I'm Not For You to Understand
by bigbew
Summary: Continuation of my TSCC series of stories. Please read 'Something', 'Worth' and 'Faith' before this. Picks up where Faith left off.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again!**

**Start of a fresh new story right here, hope it's a good 'un! :)**

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><p>"Two sugars, right?"<p>

"Yeah, thanks man." With a quick, appreciative nod, Tom took the steaming cup out of his colleague's hands.

Taking his place beside him, Aaron leaned forward with his arms resting on the railing separating them from the twenty foot drop over the edge of the walkway.

"Where is it?" He asked, peering down into the sparse warehouse, looking for any telltale signs.

"Behind that crate," He pointed towards a crate near the far wall while taking a sip of his coffee. It was surprisingly nice given their surroundings.

_Who needs a Starbucks?_

"What's it been doing?" Aaron asked, nursing his own brew in his hands. To look at them, you wouldn't think they had one of the most dangerous creations on the planet just below them. That was the air of confidence in knowing that either of them could reduce the machine into a pain ridden heap on the ground in a moment's notice. Pretty sound reasoning…

"Not much. It's moved around once or twice." Chuckling loudly, and almost spitting his coffee out of his mouth, Tom recovered with a smile, "It's been pretty funny watching it bounce off the walls a couple of times, I gotta say."

Frowning at his new colleague, Aaron peered down into the small room. "It doesn't bother you that it looks…well, like that?"

Rolling his eyes, Tom pushed himself up off the railings and turned around, resting his lower back on the rail. "Dude, you know what it is. You saw what happened when they turned the magnet off. It's not a little girl."

Still frowning, Aaron remained staring intently at the crate the gir…the machine was apparently behind. It was true that he had witnessed the frankly terrifying scenes when they first arrived, the pool of liquid shimmering, moving, reforming. It was the stuff of nightmares. But for whatever reason, he couldn't shake the image of his daughter out of his head.

She was about eight years old, blonde, favoured the pigtailed look. Naturally when he'd seen this thing writhing in agony looking for all intents and purposes like his little Lindsay, his stomach had churned a fair amount. Deep down he knew it wasn't human, wasn't his little girl, or one of her little friends, but some things were just tough to shake.

"Why do you think it looks like that?" He asked, not really bothering to turn and face Tom, asking the question more to himself than anything.

Looking down at the man leaning on the rails beside him, he gave a disinterested shrug as he sipped his coffee. "I dunno, man. Boss never said and I didn't ask. Either way, it's pretty sick, don't you think?"

"How do you mean?" Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow up at the other man.

"Well, it's impersonating a little kid." Scoffing, he turned around and peered at the crate too, "How would you feel if you had a kid, and that thing sat and played with it? I'd be weirded out by it, I know for sure."

Of course these men were no more familiar than colleagues on a first name basis, Tom knew nothing of Lindsay. But even so, it made Aaron think. Would he be able to accept the thing down in the room playing with his baby girl, having fun with her? Even if it committed no harm, done nothing out of the ordinary for any other kid to do, would the simple knowledge of what it was make him try and stop it?

This machine was from the future, he knew that much. How or why, he wasn't sure and he certainly didn't want to find out. That meant that at some point in the future these things would be around, they would become part of life, be it good or bad. Could he learn to accept or even like something that wasn't human, but pretended to be anyway?

As he pondered his admittedly philosophical issue, movement from below caught his eye. The two men separated, Aaron returning to his proper position as Mr. Quinn came into the room, holding his own cup of coffee, yawning loudly.

He looked like he had slept one, maybe two hours before coming in. But he had a look about him that told anybody who paid attention that he most likely enjoyed doing whatever it was that kept him up. As he sauntered in, he looked up at his boys on the catwalk for any hint on where Amy was hiding. Tom provided it with a nod in the general direction of the crate.

Taking a sip of his scalding hit brew, Quinn slowly approached the area that was pointed out to him. Gingerly rounding a corner, he found Amy sitting on the floor, back resting against the crate facing the wall.

Curiously tilting his head to get a better look, he couldn't help the remark that slipped out. "You'll catch a cold sitting down there."

After a moment, Amy slowly pivoted her head around to face the man. With more venom than a little girl, machine or human, should've been capable of, she answered how she saw fit, "Fuck off."

"Oooh, now that's not very nice is it?" Chuckling confidently, he sat down cross legged on the floor opposite her and stared for a few long minutes. Amy never met his eyes, his never left hers.

"I wouldn't sit there if I were you." Amy remarked darkly, her eyes slowly rising up to meet his, a very dangerous gleam behind them.

"Oh, and why not?" Quinn asked, not backing down in the slightest, keeping his eyes locked on hers, refusing to let her try and intimidate him. He was in control, he had the upper hand, he held all the cards.

"It's dangerous to be this close to me." Sticking with the intimidation attempt, Amy kept her body perfectly, and eerily still. Only her eyes seemed to carry any expression in them, despite the fact they too had never moved.

"Yeah?" Quinn asked, to Amy's eternal annoyance, unaffected by her efforts.

_Sometimes looking this cute sucks!_

Mentally shaking her head, she slowly tilted her head to the side, a tip she picked up from Cameron for intimidation. Something about being weighed up like a piece of meat didn't sit right with the human mindset, and she was banking on that to gain at least a small victory over the man in front of her.

A moment later, she slowly raised her hand, and extended her pointer finger. Still though, Quinn's eyes never wavered, he never even flinched. Even when her finger started to shimmer and revert to its liquid metal state and inch its way closer to him. If anything, his infuriating smile only grew.

When the finger was less than a foot away, and quite frankly, coming to a razor sharp point, Quinn let out a sharp bark of laughter and tossed his head up in the direction of one of his men.

Amy screeched in agony as she felt _that_ pain lancing through her body again. Collapsing to the floor, her simulated voice remained, screaming at the top of her metaphorical lungs as pain tore through her body. Her metal finger solidified and flailed around helplessly as she clutched her hands to her hand in a futile attempt to try and lesson the agony she was in.

All the time, Quinn sat and watched, even going so far as to take a sip of coffee before finally tossing another nod at the man above him, sick of her incessant screeching. Tilting his head, he observed as Amy stopped her writhing and settled for several pathetic whimpers as her systems tried to right themselves now that Peyton had let up off the button in his hand.

He leaned forward, trying to catch the machines attention, "Hey, what have I told you? Don't do anything you're not supposed to, and you won't have to go through that again."

Taking a few moments to make sure she was okay, one of Amy's eyes slowly opened to glare up at the human taunting her.

_Structural integrity compromised…_

_Source: Unknown…_

_Liquid metal matrix stability - 68%…_

_Recommend immediate shutdown and await Skynet repair…_

_Initiating retrieval signal…_

Ignoring the warning she'd seen so many times before, Amy pushed herself up rather unsteadily onto her hands, and then to her knees. Finding movement difficult, she slumped back against the crate and glared some more, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Not that she wasn't worried about the warnings her diagnostic systems were presenting to her, but there was little she could do about it. What was worrying though, was that the integrity percentage had been dropping faster and more sudden since she'd been subjected to this torture.

On most other men, most humans in fact, those puppy dog eyes and her adorable pout would have a devastating effect. On Quinn, he merely narrowed his eyes and brought his coffee to his lips.

"Oh I'm not doing this. Mr. Vasquez is doing this, honey." Quinn's smile was sickly sweet, "I'm just here to keep you in check."

"So why are you in here talking to me?" Amy asked, taking careful note of who was behind this. She would get out of there one day after all. A machine was the wrong person to piss off, especially one as unstable as Amy.

"Oh, curiosity mostly." Giving Amy a moment to consider his answer, he continued, "If you and your kind are gonna be in my future, I wanna know what makes you things tick."

Sighing, he pushed himself up to his feet, leaving his coffee cup on the top of the crate. "So remember. If you behave, we won't have to keep disciplining you. If you don't, then maybe one time one of our fingers might end up stuck on the button just a little too long."

"Somebody will be in later to uh…obtain a few samples."

The corner of his lips quirked up in an infuriating smirk as he strode past her. Amy watched him go, speaking just as his hand made contact with the door handle, "When I get out of here…I'm going to kill you."

Smiling again, Quinn slowly twisted the door handle, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't try."

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><p><strong>Five days earlier...<strong>

There's something to sleeping in the same bed with another person that one gets used to. The unconscious feeling of knowing that they're there. The way that on so many occasions people sense their lover is no longer with them, and the subconscious mind wakes them up to investigate why.

Fortunately, John Connor had never had to go through that process, what with his lover being a cyborg who never needed to get up to get a drink, to use the bathroom, or to get up simply because she couldn't sleep.

As she was constantly reminding him, she never slept.

He was used to waking up with that slightly cold body in his arms every morning, in exactly the same spot as he went to sleep in the night before. After all, it was pretty tough to move with said cyborg sprawled out on your chest weighing you down.

But for the past ten minutes he'd been rolling around in the bed, his mind trying to find the curiously absent Cameron Phillips he'd gotten so used to sleeping with. So when he did eventually wake up, he was surprised to say the least when he noticed her absence, his arm tightening around a non existent waist.

"Cameron?"

Getting no reply from the darkness, John tiredly rubbed his eyes. A moment later his body started screaming at him in protest to even the slightest movement. That was when the memories of a couple of hours ago all came flooding back. A goofy smile spread across his face when he remembered Cameron saying those three little words he'd been wanting to hear as long as he could remember.

"_I love you."_

Grinning, he rolled flat onto his back and stretched, again immediately regretting his decision when his entire midsection felt like it had gone ten rounds with one of the Klitschko brothers, or maybe both of them. Still though, he persisted and forced himself to sit up, calling out again into the blackness.

"Cameron?"

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed when he again received no reply from the apparently empty room, he pushed himself to stand. On very unsteady legs, he padded over to the bathroom and flicked on the light, immediately screwing his eyes shut from the harsh glare.

"You in here?" He asked into the small room, eyes still closed.

_Of course she's not in the bathroom, idiot. Why would she be in the bathroom?_

Heeding the wisdom of his subconscious, it being faster than his sleep fuddled brain at that point, he slowly and experimentally opened his eyes. Trying to blink the sleep out of them, he decided he may as well take care of some business while he was in here, Cameron might have returned by the time he was done. If his brain had been operating on full capacity, he might have noticed his body in the mirror as he passed by.

It was not a good sight. Bruises already forming, scratches over his chest, teeth marks on his neck, blood still smeared over his chin and his chest. He was a mess. A happy mess, but a mess all the same. Whether intentionally or not, Cameron had done a number on him with her sheer strength alone.

One empty, blissfully ignorant bladder later, he re-emerged back into the room, using the light from the bathroom to confirm that Cameron hadn't in fact came back from wherever she was. Sighing, he turned off the bathroom light and started fumbling about for something to wear to launch his search and rescue op in. His hand landed at first on Cameron's rumpled panties, bringing a smile to his face as he thought back to removing them from her long legs earlier in the night.

Still grinning like an idiot, he set them down on the bed and eventually found his boxers. In hindsight, that damn bathroom light would've come in handy. Slipping them on, hopping about the room at the same time, he tried making his way to the door at the same time. If only Skynet could see him now, he was sure it'd be quaking in its metaphorical boots at the prospect of having to best him in the arena of war.

Eventually managing the simple task of dressing himself, John took a moment to compose himself before stepping out slowly into the hall outside his room, "Cameron?"

No reply again from the darkness. Blindly making his way along the hall, he came first to his mother's door.

_Nah, she wouldn't have gone in there…I hope._

_Derek's room…hell no._

Even if Jessica was in there, it was still out of bounds territory for Cameron.

Blinking a few times to try and adjust to the light, he carried on towards the stairs when a small noise caught his attention from down said stairs. He craned his neck to try and pick up more of the sounds. His curiosity getting the better of him. He slowly, warily made his way down the old, creaky stairs one at a time, the noise in his ears getting louder with each step.

By the time he reached the bottom, he recognised the noise clear as day. What confused him though was why it was coming from inside his house.

"_Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can. Roll it up, roll it up. And throw it in a pan! Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man!"_

Rounding the corner into the living room, John stared dumbstruck as he watched the game being played out. Amy sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor with her hands pushed out, clapping away happily and singing along in time with the claps with a huge grin on her face.

Nothing odd in that…relatively speaking. But what was odd was her choice of playing partner.

He could now officially call of the search for his missing lover, as she sat there, hands moving perfectly in time with Amy's in the middle of the living room floor. But that wasn't what took his breath away…it was her smile that did it.

The look of unadulterated joy on Cameron's face as she clapped and chanted in rhythm was a sight that would melt his heart every time he saw it. He'd always thought she had a beautiful smile, even from the first day they met. That little shy smile as she told him her name. But this was something special.

He liked it when his Cameron was happy, even if her choice of methods of gaining that happiness was a little suspect. His aching body would attest to that. Unsure if he should interrupt or not, he debated internally before stepping forward tiredly, "Um... hey there, guys. Am I interrupting?"

"John! You're here!" Turning around and flashing him that brilliant, beautiful smile, Cameron held her hand out, beckoning him closer. "Amy showed me how to do this!"

She held her hands out, palms facing away as she waited for the little girl opposite her to resume the game. If John didn't know better, he'd have thought she wanted to show off for him.

"Uh... that's great." Giving Amy a look, he walked over and kneeled down beside his girlfriend, dropping a kiss on her cheek, pushing aside his initial confusion, "I was worried, you don't usually leave the bed at night."

John couldn't help but notice the way Amy's head was tilted to the side, scanning some of the more obvious marks on his body. Cameron meanwhile was oblivious, too busy grinning like an idiot when he kissed her. "I wanted to come down here for a while, it's too warm in that bed."

Wishing he'd put a shirt on, John could've kicked himself. If Sarah or Derek had seen him looking like this they'd go for the thermite, "But I thought you liked how I kept you warm at night?"

Shrugging, Cameron sat for a split second before going off on an uncharacteristic new shiny object tangent, springing up to her knees to face him, "Oooh, John. Hold out your hands, I wanna play the game with you!"

"Um," Quirking his brow up a little higher, he slowly lifted his hands up and held them out, palms facing Cameron, "Since I'm up anyways, I was thinking of having a late night snack. You interested, Princess?"

Frowning for the first time since he'd came down, Cameron looked at him like he'd just kicked her favourite puppy, "You don't want to play?"

"I didn't say that, Honey." Smiling, he lifted his hands up a little more so she could reach them, "But when we're done, do you think I can get some of those famous Cameron hot fudge sundaes?"

Face lighting up like a kid on Christmas, Cameron quickly forgot about the game she wanted to play and pushed herself up to her feet. "I'll go make you one."

Sounding more eager to please than anything else, John watched as she made her way towards the kitchen on very unsteady legs before he even had a chance to stop her. Half way there, she bumped her shoulder into the door frame and giggled loudly before disappearing into the kitchen.

"What. The. Hell?" Leaning back against the front of the couch with a groan, John narrowed his eyes at the unusually quiet mini-metal across from him, "What are you smiling at?"

Uncrossing her legs, Amy sat up on her haunches and shuffled forward on her knees. Slowly, and without warning, she prodded at his hips, "Those are some…interesting marks you're gonna have there Johnny Boy."

Hissing in pain, John pulled away from her touch on instinct, quickly trying to cover, "What goes on in my training is really none of your business."

Scanning in a little closer using her God given, or rather, Skynet given abilities, she detected the early signs of some major bruising developing. He'd either had a two hundred pound cyborg bouncing around on top of him, or he'd been in a minor car accident. Whichever one it was, he was pretty certain to be walking funny for a while.

Chuckling, she sat back and eyed his chest, "Yeah, training…Derek have long nails these days does he?" She asked with a pointed nod towards the pretty obvious and deep scratches on his chest, detecting trace amounts of Cameron's clear nail polish spotted around the wounds.

Narrowing his eyes in a pretty good imitation of his future self's glare, he shook his head, "You talked with Cameron, didn't you?"

"I did. In like, 2029." Smiling a genuine smile, she knew something clicked in John's brain when she said it.

"Wait." John actually looked more than a little alarmed at that thought, "She was... she was still doing this in twenty years? This isn't just some... phase?"

Shrugging, Amy settled down onto her backside, curiously eyeing the deep contusions on his neck vaguely resembling teeth marks, "She still indulged occasionally. Everyone knew when it happened too. You'd be walking stiff for days, and she'd be an absolute delight!"

"I was wondering about that." Glancing towards the kitchen where Cameron had wandered a few minutes earlier, he actually chuckled, "What's wrong with her? She seemed fine before I fell asleep. A little quiet, but fine."

"So this is the first time you've done this?" Amy asked, glancing back at the kitchen when she heard the distinct sound of a cyborg body bouncing off the counter followed by several poorly stifled snorts of laughter.

"Yeah." John cringed a little at all the noise, deathly afraid his mom would hear the racket and come storming down the stairs, "I'm kinda lost here."

"Okay. She explained it to me in the future, or rather, you both did after I caught her wandering naked through the bunker." Grinning a little at the memory of the priceless looks on some of the soldier's faces as she marched General Connor's naked wife back to her quarters, Amy continued, "As far as you both knew, after you…you know. She'd go into some kind of recovery phase like this where she basically did whatever the hell she wanted to."

"Recovery?" If anything, John only looked more confused, "What does she need to recover from exactly? I'm the one who feels like he fell asleep in a pit full of dobermans."

Smiling, Amy shuffled her little body closer and slumped against the couch beside him, "You know, doing what you two just did, reeeeally messes with her head. It takes her a while to get back to normal. She's not really…her, in there." She tossed a thumb towards the kitchen.

"Really?" Despite what should probably have just rolled off his back, John looked devastated by that revelation, "She's not?"

Shaking her head slowly, Amy turned more serious, "No. She's somewhere in between her two layers of programming. Not quite Cameron, but not quite the TOK- 815 either. You have to understand, she's operating on a purely 'instinctual' level right now."

She paused to make sure he was taking all this in, and hopefully planning for future occurrences, "If she's warm, she'll take her clothes off. If she wants to go outside and look at the stars because they're pretty, she'll do it. If she wants to go talk to Derek at three in the morning, she'll do that too…no matter how unlikely on that last one."

That seemed to take some of the weight off John's shoulders as he tilted his head to the side to look at his little friend, "She told me she loves me tonight."

Shrugging, Amy idly played with one of her pigtails, a curious habit she'd developed ever since she first created them, "She meant it. She has no reason to lie when she's like this. It doesn't serve any purpose." Grinning, she nudged her friend in the ribs, then immediately regretted it when he winced, "So, she finally told you what we've all known for like three years?"

"It was... amazing." Grinning like an idiot, he laughed to himself, "I swear, I'm so happy right now I'd take her back upstairs for round two if she asked me."

"She probably will…" Pausing with a frown, she turned her body to face John properly, sitting up on her knees again, "But you have to understand something, okay?"

Looking more than a little intimidated at the idea of actually going for a second time, he nodded slowly, "Okay... what do I need to understand?"

"How vulnerable she is when she's like this." Brow cinching together, she tried to come up with the words to make him realise what was happening,

"She may be a lot of fun, she may be all giggly and stuff, but she'd be useless in a fight. If somebody yells at her, it'll spook her and…she'll needs you during this time. Luckily enough it won't always be like this."

Nodding along, John smiled a little at the thought that Cameron had such a dedicated friend, "It won't?"

"No. She won't always need to bust your lip open…" She paused and touched his still raw lip, "To get what she needs…just sometimes."

"There are... other ways?" Despite himself, John blushed. He'd never imagined discussing sex with Amy before.

"You saw how much of a bitch she was before tonight." Smiling, she stood up as she heard Cameron clashing and banging and finally approaching the living room, "You think she'd have to beat the hell out of you each time you have sex? You'd be a bloody pulp of a mess within a year!"

"So it's not really a problem then?" John asked, wanting to make sure, "This isn't a bad thing? Not something to…fix?"

Shaking her head, Amy glanced at an emerging and blissfully ignorant Cameron. "No. This is just the way she is, nothing either of you can do about it. I guess it's up to you how you handle it."

Thinking to himself for a moment, John decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. He always did like seeing her happy. So long as it didn't turn dangerous or harmful, he was pretty sure he could live with it, even if his body wasn't so keen on that idea.

Smirking, he looked up at his little friend again, "So maybe I'll get away with a kindler, gentler round two?" Chucking to himself, he held a hand out to the machine, clearly not up to standing on his own.

Amy merely scoffed down at his hands, "Please…she can do it." She said with a nod towards Cameron, who emerged with two pop tarts instead of the sundaes she promised, half of hers already eaten.

Shaking his head a little at the sight greeting him, John paused after thinking for a second, "Wait... if you didn't make food, what was with all the noise in there? I thought I heard pots and pans."

"Oh…I thought that these would be tastier, so I made you one too." Offering it to him with a smile, she flopped down to her knees beside him. "It's raspberry, I've got chocolate."

"Um... thanks?" Taking the pop tart, he took a large bite before returning her smile, "How are you feeling, Princess?"

Taking a moment to consider it like it was the hardest question in the world, Cameron eventually looked up at him, brow cinched together in obvious deep thought, "Cold."

"Well, come here then." Pulling himself up and onto the couch with a groan, he opened his arms, pulling the blanket off the back of it.

Settling in beside him a moment later with a huge smile, Cameron wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest, frowning when she saw the odd marks on his skin, "How did you get those?"

Just as she asked the question, Amy caught John's attention with a wave, "Remember, emotional maturity of a five year old." She pointed to Cameron with a quick grin before slipping out of the room.

Highly confused as to why she didn't remember she was the one who caused the damage, John debated how to react. Deciding that she'd probably freak out if he told her the truth, John just plastered on a smile and draped the blanket over both of them, hugging her to him, "Just a few training marks, Honey."

"Oh. Derek should be more careful with you." Her frown only lasted for a moment before she returned to her bright smile, dropping a few tender kisses over the scratches, "I love you."

Shivering a little under her delicate touch, he certainly was starting to appreciate this side of his girlfriend, "I love you too, Cameron. I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm always happy when I'm with you." Continuing her gentle kissing, her hands started slowly drifting up and down his spine. Despite her relatively unstable condition, her touch was feather light.

"Mmmm... feels good." Relaxing, he let his head fall back onto the couch and his eyes fall closed. It really had been a long night, and he had 'worked' pretty hard.

Smiling when she felt his heart rate settling, she hoisted herself up and buried her head in the crook of his neck, pressing her body flush against his, gently running the fingers of one hand through his hair. "When you wake up…can we have sex again?"

"You're sure everything will... work?" Yawning a little, he wrapped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer, "I don't want you to get frustrated again, Princess."

Shrugging, she pulled back a little and kissed his cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too." Not really caring if his mother did come down and see him at this point, he just sprawled back length-wise on the couch, trying to pull Cameron down with him, "And yeah... we can have sex if you want."

His body may have been aching, his mind may have taken a mental battering, but John was pretty sure he was okay with this new development…at least until his mom saw it, then he was pretty sure all hell would break loose.

Smiling, Cameron squeezed him tight, giggling softly, happy beyond words with who and what she was, where she was, just generally happy so long as she was with her John. Having no knowledge of how differently she was behaving, she closed her eyes and snuggled, unknowingly waiting for her chip to balance out, to return to being…well…her.

* * *

><p>First one eye, then the other.<p>

Waking up slowly was a forte of Jessica Grey. As was waking up early and feeling as magnificent as if she'd slept a full twelve hours. Most of her fellow models didn't have that ability and hated her for it, especially the night after consuming one too many Cosmopolitans.

But this morning, as usual, she was awake early and feeling great. Even more so when she felt the strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Smiling, she glanced behind her at a dozing Derek Reese, memories of the night before flooding back, and despite the fact there was nobody nearby she still blushed a delightful shade of pink.

If only her father knew what his little angel got up to.

What started as a perfectly decent evening involving a movie and some cuddling, quickly devolved into an all over the apartment romp that kept the both of them up most of the night.

_That maid is gonna be sooo pissed when she gets here!_

Rolling over, she gingerly dropped a kiss on the corner of her sleeping lover's mouth before trying the arduous task of untangling herself from him. That feat accomplished, she dressed herself in no more than her robe and a pair of his comfy boxers, way too big for her slight frame. Still though, it brought a grin to her face as she slipped them on.

Tightening her robe, she leaned over and dropped another kiss on Derek's stubble before setting off for the kitchen, humming happily to herself on her way out, quietly closing the door behind her and descending the stairs.

Smoothing down the front of his tie, Donald made his way to the door in the very expensive apartment block he was paying for, after arguing with his security for a full five minutes that he didn't need an escort up the stairs. Fishing out his spare key, he didn't hesitate before letting himself in, "Bunny? You awake?"

Freezing on the second to last step, Jessica vaguely considered sprinting back up and pretending she wasn't home, or at least changing out of Derek's boxers and combing her hair. Unfortunately, her father rounded the corner before she had a chance to do either, "Um... hi daddy!"

"Well don't stand there looking like you're not happy to see me!" With a big grin, he held his arms wide, "Come here and give your old man a hug!"

Cringing just a little when she considered what she smelled like after the night before, she knew any hesitation would only make him suspicious. Striding over quickly, she hopped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping a wet kiss on his cheek, "I wasn't expecting you."

Wrapping his daughter in a big bear hug as per usual, Donald smiled, "I have a meeting just around the corner. Thought I'd drop in and see my favourite daughter."

"Unless you're keeping a big secret from me, I'm still your ONLY daughter." Smirking, she swatted his shoulder and set off for the kitchen, "I was just about to make breakfast. You hungry?"

"You may be my only daughter, but you're still my favourite." Grinning, he slowly walked after her, rolling his eyes at the mess in her lounge. She hadn't changed a bit in her twenty three years…still a slob, "Breakfast sounds great. Coffee would be nice too."

Popping a few pieces of bread into the toaster, Jessica started shoving empty pizza boxes around on the counter looking for the coffee container, "I just wish you'd call, daddy. We had this talk... I can at least _try_ to clean before you get here that way."

Shaking his head, he idly picked up a few items, mostly clothes and started folding and setting them neatly down on the couch. If only he knew they were the clothes that were hastily stripped off her the night before…and that he was a few precarious inches from discovering her panties that somehow got stuffed down the back of the couch cushions. "Baby, you haven't ever successfully cleaned anything in twenty three years. That's why I pay for a maid for you."

"I'm getting better." Lifting her chin a little in triumph as she finally found the coffee, she set about making a pot, "Derek kinda insists on it. I think it's that military stuff, 'everything has it's place' and all that."

"Oh, Derek?" Smiling as he finished his mini tidying spree and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter, he slid a few magazines away from him too, "So that's his name. I was kinda wondering."

Blushing a little at just what had knocked those magazines all over the counter in the first place, she shook her head to clear it, "He's a great guy, daddy. He takes good care of me."

"I should hope so." Smiling as he watched her work, he paid attention to the way she seemed to have a spring in her step more than usual, "You look happy."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Pouring cereal into two bowls, she brushed some stray hair back over her ear, "I'm always happy."

"So long as he keeps you that way." Chuckling, he picked up one of those magazines and started leafing through it. Just what women found so interesting about purses and shoes he'd never know, "I pay a lot for my security. If he ever hurt you, I'm sure something could be arranged..." He carried on studiously flicking through the magazine, trying desperately not to let his smirk show.

It probably should have scared him a little that despite how she'd usually freak out over such a threat, even knowing it was a joke, she just returned his smirk, "Daddy, he'd never hurt me. And frankly... Marko and his goons wouldn't last five minutes with him."

"Oh?" Setting his magazine down with a smirk, he actually started paying a little more attention, "Tough guy is he? You don't usually go for that type. What was that guys name again? The last one you were with?"

"Marcus." Chuckling to herself, she pulled the butter out of the fridge and a knife to make their toast, "And Derek isn't just tough, he's... he's... real. He has calluses on his hands, daddy. And scars. Last week he fixed my car! He, he put that shelf up over there!"

Shaking his head at what seemed to impress a woman these days, he smiled and stood up to walk over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of orange juice, "I remember your mother. She was always impressed whenever I did anything macho. I guess you have more than just her eyes."

"He reminds me of you a lot, daddy." Buttering their toast, she set two plates down along with their bowls of cereal, grabbing the milk before he closed the fridge, "He's so confident it borders on cocky. Kind. Generous."

Filling two glasses with juice, he set them down on the counter and sat down. "Thank you, Bunny. So, when do I get to meet him then? After all this build up, he'd better be something special."

"Meet him?" As much as she loved Derek, she was a little afraid his 'rough edges' might put her father off, "Um, you want to meet him?"

"Of course I do." Quirking a brow at the look on her face as she sat down, he grabbed the milk and poured some over his cereal, "Why wouldn't I wanna meet the man who's making my little girl so happy?"

"I just..." Deciding to be honest, she took a bite out of her toast, "You haven't been interested in most of the guys I've been with. Except the ones that worked for you or was related to one of your friends."

"Well, those guys were asses, baby." Shaking his head, he took a spoonful of the low fat crap she called cereal with a grimace, "I didn't wanna say at the time. But they were, they all took after their dads."

"And I'm starting to agree with you." Smiling a little, she dug into her own cereal, "Just promise me you won't embarrass him. Don't offer him a job or anything, okay?"

Chuckling loudly, he gave up with the cereal/cardboard and picked up his toast, "Why? Does he give off some sort of bum vibe?"

"Oh, he has a job..." Jessica tried to come up with a legal-sounding version of 'mercenary', "He works for uh... an... international security firm."

"Really?" He suddenly sounded intrigued, talking around a mouthful of toast, "Which one?"

"I'm not sure right now." Glancing down at her bowl, she shrugged, "He's kind of... freelance. He goes where the money is. He's gone a lot, out of the country."

"Okay," He accepted it at face value with a nod, despite his concerns. He loved his daughter, and he trusted her, "So, when _do_ I get to meet him?"

"You're so busy, when do you think you'll have time?"

"Hmm." As if on cue his Blackberry buzzed with an email by his side, though he ignored it while he thought. "Oh, I know! My assistant has organised a fun day next week. That's actually what I wanted to see you about."

"I haven't been to one of those since I was sixteen, daddy." Rolling her eyes, she continued to eat her breakfast, already knowing he was half out the door as soon as that damn phone went off.

Rolling his eyes, he tucked his Blackberry into his jacket pocket, intent on enjoying his breakfast in peace, "I'm not asking you to go play on the bouncy castle with the other kids, Baby. Apparently it'll help with my company's image if I'm seen to be a family man."

Sighing a little when his real reason for wanting her around came out, she nodded a little, staring at the table, "Um... sure. Anything I can do to help. I have someone else I'd like to bring if that's okay?"

"Hey," Nudging her chin up with his finger, he smiled, "You can bring anybody you want...and I'd love to spend the rest of the day with you and Derek as soon as I can get the fun day over with."

"Really?" A small smile breaking out, she didn't want to get her hopes up, "We can all spend the day together?"

"Not all of it, but the evening, yeah." Grinning, he returned to his toast, enjoying the sight of his baby girl's beautiful smile, "I can't wait to meet Derek. I'll probably see you two in the morning before the festivities start."

Smiling wide, Jessica nodded eagerly, "Okay. Oh! And Just so you know, the kid I'm bringing isn't Derek's, so don't freak out. It's his niece."

"Niece?" Smiling, he took a drink of his orange juice. "You her favourite Aunt Jessica these days?"

"Believe it or not, I am." Looking incredibly proud of herself, she finished off her toast, "They're a really tight family, daddy. It... it kinda makes me want something like that."

Frowning down at his toast, he hated it whenever the conversation turned this way, "I hope you will someday. I know you didn't exactly have a normal childhood, but..."

Smirking a little, she glanced up from her plate, her time with Derek apparently making her more ballsy these days, "You _will_ be around for your grandkids. Or I swear, I'll make you regret it, Mr."

Grinning, he took another spoonful of that crappy cereal, "Grandkids? Wow, that serious?"

"I love him, daddy." Shrugging a little, she couldn't entirely fight off a blush, "But you don't have to worry now. I don't think he wants kids. I'll just have to work on him."

"Well you be careful, okay." Slipping back into 'dad mode', he subconsciously straightened his tie, "You've always gotten carried away with things, Jessica."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned across the counter and batted his hands away, taking care of his tie for him the way she always had growing up, "It's not like I _need_ to work, daddy. I like what I do, but I think I'd like being a mom just as much."

He smiled as he watched her concentrate on his tie, "If you take after your mom, and we already know you do, you'll be great." Chuckling, he pulled back when she finished with his tie, "Just remember, make your man share the workload."

"My man is more the 'protect and fix stuff' guy than the snotty nose-wiper type." Pausing long enough to drain her juice, she had to fight off a laughing fit of her own, "And just how many diapers did _you_ change?"

"Hey! I did it at least, oh, five times. Then you peed on me, so I didn't do it again. It's your fault really."

"Babies pee, daddy." Patting his shoulder, she started gathering up the dishes, "Trust me though, when you see Amy, you'll get why I'm so excited. This family seems to have super-genes. All the girls are gorgeous."

"All of them?" Standing up, he gathered his own plate and bowl to help her out, "How many are there?"

"Well, there's Sarah, the mom." Smiling wide as she talked about her new 'family', she set everything in the sink for the maid to take care of when she came by later, "She's kinda uptight, but nice when she wants to be."

"Then there's the oldest daughter, Cameron. Daddy, she's the sweetest, most innocent thing you've ever met, and drop-dead gorgeous. Then little Amy, who you'll meet at the fun day. She's... well, you'll just have to meet her, because no matter how I try to describe her, I wouldn't do her justice."

"Sounds good." Looking sidelong at his daughter while he turned the tap on to start the sink filling, he resolved that one day he'd finally drill some domestic skills besides cooking into her. "Anybody else I should know about?"

"Derek has a nephew he's pretty close to. His name is John, but I don't know much about him." Chuckling to herself, she leaned back against the counter, "Except that he likes staring at my chest, and is reeeally protective of his sister."

"Sounds like a charmer." He chuckled as he rolled his sleeves up and turned the tap off, "I guess some things run in their family too. Well, on the male side I mean."

"He's a teenager, daddy." Shrugging a little, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty on that count herself, "And I was kinda wearing that dress I wore to the Christmas party at your office last year."

"I thought I told you never to wear that thing again?" Actually looking stern for a change, he started washing up the dishes, "I don't care how much it cost, at no time do I want every man in the room ogling my little girl."

"It was the first time I was meeting his family, and I wanted to make a good impression." Frowning at how her dad could still make her feel like a scolded little girl, she actually pouted a little, "And I'll have you know that most red-carpet dresses cover far less. At least that skirt is floor-length."

"On you it may as well be a string bikini." After a moment of watching her stare at her shuffling feet, he sighed, "Sorry. I guess I'm still just a little overprotective."

She couldn't help but cringe at the bikini line. If he ever caught sight of one of her lingerie ads... not good. "I know, daddy. But you don't have to be. I swear, you can trust Derek to take care of that now. Someone makes a problem, he'll just go all Jason Statham on their asses."

"Jason who?" He frowned, washing the dishes on autopilot, "Is he on my security team?"

"Um... Chuck Norris?"

He shook his head with a blank look, pulling the last bowl out of the sink and flicking his fingers to dry them, not much time for movies when one is micromanaging a business empire, "Ex boyfriend?"

Barely able to keep herself from a full-blown giggle fit, she tried to remember any movie she'd ever watched with her dad, "Um... oh! Stallone!"

"The guy who I could never understand?" Tossing his head up in triumphant recognition, it was like a lightbulb was turned on. "Oh, I know who you mean…who are those other guys?"

"Ass-kickers, daddy." Smirking, she patted him on the back, "Actors who always play tough, military types who beat everyone up."

"Ohhh. Well then, I definitely can't wait to meet him now!" Rolling down his sleeves, he set about fixing his cuffs, "Could you help me out a little here, baby?"

"Of course, daddy." Quickly smoothing his sleeves out, she buttoned his cufflinks, pulling his tie down off his shoulder and straightening it out again before giving him a big hug, "Thanks for coming by. It was great surprise!"

"I enjoyed it too. Nobody makes toast like you, honey. Ever since you were five you've loved to cook." Slipping his jacket over his shoulders, he held his arms out for a hug, "I wish I could drop by more often, I really do."

Nodding against his shoulder, she squeezed as tight as she could, just like she always did, "Please be nice to him, daddy. I... I really do think he's the one."

Squeezing her back, he pulled away a moment later, resting his hands on her arms, "Okay, I promise. I'll have Victoria call you and give you the details about the fun day."

"Sounds great, daddy!" Dropping a kiss on his cheek, she stepped back, quickly readjusting her robe to hide Derek's boxers poking out, "I love you."

"I love you too, Bunny." Making his way to the door, he turned around as he let himself out, "I'll see you later, okay. Oh! Go and wake him up already would you? He's had enough sleep for one night!"

He didn't look back…but he could just picture his baby's jaw hitting the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>As usual, many thanks to Dekardkain for being a dedicated and helpful little man! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys,**

**Sorry for the delay, but this was a pain of a chapter to write. I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

><p><em>Is that a loose thread? Oh god, that's a loose thread! Dammit Jessica, why didn't you check this dress out before you bought it?<em>

_Because it cost fifteen hundred bucks that's why! It's not supposed to have a loose anything!_

"Aunt Jessica?"

"Huh, what?"

"Why are you pulling your dress up like that?"

Looking up from trying to sever that damn thread from the bottom of her dress, Jessica wasn't above admitting she looked ridiculous. Long, toned legs poking out of the bottom of a beautiful blue dress…bunched up around her thighs while she attempted some running repairs on the garment in the back of a company car sent to pick her up.

Still though, it was pretty funny the way Amy was looking at her, like she was as much of an idiot as she felt right now, so much so she laughed wholeheartedly and returned the garment to it's proper state.

"Oh, no reason, sweetie. Just your Aunt being a goof that's all."

"Huh…your dress looks really pretty, if that's what you're worried about."

Tilting her head slightly at the perception of the young girl beside her, the corner of Jessica's mouth quirked up of its own accord at her compliment, "Thank you. I love yours too, and I wish I had pigtails like that."

As Amy watched Jessica's fake pout, she couldn't help but wonder just how in the hell Derek had managed to snag this one. She was the sweetest, nicest, most considerate…not to mention drop dead gorgeous human she knew. She was way out of his league. "Thanks Aunt Jessica."

"So, are you looking forward to today?" Jessica asked with a smile. She didn't think she'd ever get used to being called 'Aunt' all the time.

"Uh huh!" Amy answered gleefully, bouncing in her seat a little, "Will there be other kids there? Oooh, and a swing set, and a jungle gym?"

Nodding her head with her eyes wide, Jessica's smile stretched across her face as she watched the hyperactive ball of energy sitting next to her, "Yeah, I'm sure there will be!"

The smile that greeted her answer sent a flutter up from Jessica's belly right to her heart…God, she wanted one, she wanted one so bad. "Listen, Amy…"

"Miss Grey?"

She looked up at the driver who'd interrupted her, "Yes?"

"We're here."

"Oh," She looked out of the window, recognising the familiar front entrance of her father's building. Only today, it had a distinctly more friendly appearance to it. Gone was the boring, dull, grey exterior. It was instead replaced by bright colours everywhere, people milling around, bouncy castles, balloons, stalls, kids…so many kids.

Before she'd even had a chance to take it all in, Amy had already unbuckled her seatbelt and was fiddling with the door handle trying to get out. Fortunately enough, this particular car featured childproof locks controlled by the driver. She flashed a knowing smile at said driver in his mirror as he unlocked her door and she climbed out, trying to keep her dress in check. The last thing she wanted was a Britney Spears moment.

By the time she rounded the car, she was greeted with the sight of two palms flat against the glass, accompanied by a squished up nose and an adorable pout. Chuckling to herself, she opened the door and let the straining Amy out, slightly worried she was going to tumble rather than climb out of the car.

When she'd managed to just about stay upright, Amy brushed past Jessica like she wasn't there, intent on getting in as much playtime as she could…and this looked like one helluva playground.

_What the hell happened to 'Thanks Aunt Jessica'?_

Unable to entirely hide the hurt look on her face, Jessica called out to her, "Amy, could you come here please?"

Torn between the sweet, sweet candy of the playground and her desire to acquiesce to the simple request of her Aunt, Amy literally leaned both ways. Her upper body leaned towards the bright lights of the bouncy castle, while her feet remained rooted to the spot.

Taking pity on the girl, Jessica casually strolled to meet her halfway, her expensive heels clicking on the sidewalk. Once there she crouched down in front of her girl and gently placed her hands on her upper arms.

"Aunt Jessica…I wanna go plaaaaay!" Amy whined adorably, bringing a sympathetic smile to Jessica's face.

"I know, sweetie. But I have to talk to you first, then I'll let you go, okay?"

At Amy's reluctant nod, she continued. "I want you to be a good girl for me today, okay?"

Amy merely tilted her head to the side curiously.

_Why wouldn't I be a good girl?_

"Your mom is showing a lot of trust in me, letting me take you out for the whole day. I know she cares a lot about you, and it means a lot to me that she let me take you. Do you understand?"

Oh if only Jessica knew what was going through Amy's mind. The complex calculations and lines of coding doing their job, it all resulted in a slow nod from the girl, who found herself smiling sympathetically with the human. Sarah's effect on her was so intense that she desperately wanted not to piss her off by letting anything happen to her 'daughter' on their big day out together. It was sweet, really.

"Okay Aunt Jessica, I'll be good." Amy answered after a moment, Jessica hanging on her every word. She got the sneaking suspicion that Jessica was trying to prove something to herself today too, as well as Sarah.

"That's my girl." Wrapping her arms around her girl in a relieved hug, she smiled when she felt Amy's small arms wrap around her neck and squeeze back, although she did sense an impatience on her little friend's part.

"Alright, now you can go play. That bouncy castle looks like it has your name on…"

"Jessica! Jessica! Can I have a few shots for Fashion Today?"

The photographer was already fumbling with his camera by the time Jessica had even realised what was going on. Just in time she managed to plaster on her 'model smile', happy to oblige the guy…most of them didn't even bother to ask. "Sure," She answered as she stood.

"Great, thanks!" Snapping several shots with the always open to the press Jessica, the photographer glanced down when he had to make a few adjustments to his lens. "And who is this?"

The next thing Jessica knew, she felt a small body press into her side. Looking down, she found Amy burying her face in her side, her tiny hands clutching at her dress. Without even thinking, her maternal instincts kicked in and she shielded the girl with a hand on the back of her head.

With a sympathetic smile towards the photographer, she started to answer, "She's shy. This is…"

Not that she was exactly Tyra Banks or Giselle Bundchen famous, but Jessica did occasionally grace a few local tabloid gossip pages. She wasn't ashamed of her new life or her new man in any way, but she could just picture the columns that would be printed. 'Jessica Grey has new mystery beau'. 'Mystery man sweeps Jess off her feet'.

It was a pain, but she knew it came with the territory.

Apparently she was taking a little too long to answer, as even Amy was looking up at her with a questioning expression, the photographer patiently clearing his throat. Finally making her mind up, she smiled down at Amy while slowly playing with one of her pigtails, "This is my boyfriend's niece."

There, it was out and public knowledge. She looked up and could almost see the guy's mind processing what he'd just been told.

_Oh well, I guess that's a column of page 43 taken care of._

"Is that right?" The guy asked, still fiddling with his camera as he watched Jessica crouch down to the little blonde. In truth, he was already halfway to his cell phone to speak to someone from his magazine.

"Amy, sweetie," Jessica tilted Amy's chin up with her finger. Now down at her level, she smiled warmly, "Would you like to take a few pictures with your Aunt?"

Amy shook her head quickly as she eyed the photographer warily. Jessica put it down to her being shy around strangers and the camera. Odd. She'd always assumed Amy would love the camera based on her personality.

"Are you sure?" She offered again.

Amy nodded, looking certain in her decision. In truth, despite her ridiculous excitement levels about the great day she was sure she was about to have, she wasn't stupid. As Sarah Connor had put it so many times, 'Do nothing that gets us on the radar'. Getting her face, no matter how sweet and innocent, plastered over the tabloids was a surefire way to piss her off, and Amy did not want to take that risk.

After all, the entire family were still wanted fugitives.

"It's okay sweetie." Jessica smiled and smoothed her hair behind her ear before she stood. Eyeing a couple more photographers coming her way, she hugged Amy into her side and cut them off before they even had a chance to speak, "Look guys, let me get this little one off to play and then I'll come take some pictures with you, okay?"

Several impatient nods greeted her as she ushered Amy away. Once out of earshot, she gave her niece's hand a squeeze to get her attention. "Hey, have fun today."

When she got a smile in reply, Jessica crouched down again, "If you need anything just come find me. I'll come get you when it's time for lunch, 'kay?" Her eyes sparkled as she reached down to tie one of Amy's laces. A maternal glow sweeping through her body as she completed her task, her radiant smile fully in place.

Amy noticed and nodded happily, "Okay," She leaned forward and kissed Jessica's cheek quickly before turning and sprinting away towards the other kids, "I'll see you later!"

Gently touching her cheek, Jessica felt a warm glow as she stood. If Derek didn't want kids…tough, because she did, and she _would_ have his babies someday. He wouldn't have a clue what hit him when they got home.

* * *

><p>"John? John, wake up!"<p>

Slowly blinking his eyes open when Cameron's angelic voice filled his ears, and her remarkably soft hand gently nudged his shoulder, John responded with a less than pleasant groan. Burying his head back in the pillow, he tried his very best to pull the sheet over his head for just a few more minutes of shuteye. Unfortunately for him, there was a smiling cyborg weighing it down, making his task all but impossible.

In the end he gave up, opened his eyes and rolled flat on his back to look up at his infuriatingly refreshed and awake looking girlfriend for the first time that day. Despite his mood, he couldn't help but grin at her expression of endless patience. When he reached out a lazy hand towards her bare thigh, she playfully swatted it away with a stern look, earning herself another disapproving groan.

"Morning, Cameron."

He was so not a morning person.

"A very good morning to you too, John."

_Does she sound…perky? Again?_

"I've fixed you breakfast." Before John could respond, she'd already stood up and was halfway across the room to the desk where she'd left the tray upon entering the room and found her lover still slumbering.

Sitting up against the headboard, still complete with two chunks the size of Cameron's hands missing out of it, John smiled as he watched her retrieve the tray and set it down in his lap. Again he barely had a chance to tear his eyes away from her proud face and down to the tray when she sprang away and started drifting around the room, picking up various items of laundry and other household mess.

"Sliced banana with oatmeal and orange juice."

"What?" He asked, caught off guard by her sudden speech, so intent as he was on watching her feet move as she walked. Skynet really had created a perfect facsimile, right down to the way it looked like internal muscles were working so hard to propel her effortlessly around the room. That and her painted toenails too.

_How did I not even notice those before?_

She nodded towards the tray in his lap, "Your breakfast. Sliced banana with oatmeal and orange juice."

With the merest hint of a smirk, John looked between her and the tray, and the delicious looking first meal of the day she'd prepared for him. "You forgot the toast."

"I didn't forget. I just assumed you'd recognise the toast and query what was in the bowl." She glanced back over her shoulder as she leaned over his desk to adjust his laptop to an angle perfectly square to the edge of the cheap, Swedish made furniture. With a satisfied smile at her work, she resumed her task of cleaning up their room.

Over the past few days her standards had become somewhat lacking. Probably due to the fact that she hadn't been in the best of moods until recently, housework was the least of her worries…Sarah would likely not approve of her laxity.

As he picked up the spoon laid out for him, John had a tough time removing the smile from his face long enough to take a mouthful of the surprisingly tasty treat. "Are you putting me on a diet or something? 'Cause I gotta tell you, I'm not sure I need it."

"No, I'm not trying to make you diet. I just thought you might like something other than a fried breakfast today." Pivoting gracefully on a heel, she moved closer to the bed, over to the nightstand, looking at him the entire way. "Is it alright?"

Nodding enthusiastically, John smiled, "It's delicious. Have you eaten this morning?"

"No," She answered with a shake of her head, "I've told you many times, I don't need to eat."

"I know," John replied before taking another mouthful, "But you enjoy food sometimes, right?"

She nodded quickly as she adjusted the new bedside lamp she'd purchased and swiped her hand over some of the dust that had gathered on the shade with a disapproving frown, "I do. But I didn't feel like it this morning."

"Okay," John answered with a satisfied nod.

Smiling up at Cameron as she glanced at him to gauge his reaction, he happily tucked into his breakfast, content to watch her glide around the room. Although, he had to force himself to concentrate on his food, a difficult thing to do given her choice of attire.

He wondered if she had any idea just how sexy she was or if it was purely by accident, maybe a result of research and knowledge of his tastes and preferences. Her choice to wear nothing but one of his larger button up shirts just barely long enough to reach her thighs and a pair of her panties made it tricky for him to decide which it was.

Watching her lean over to collect a discarded shirt from the floor, John came to the conclusion that he didn't really care either way, he was just glad she was the way she was. "Did you go downstairs and make breakfast dressed like that?"

"Of course." Cameron answered with a smile while idly folding a t-shirt, oblivious to his staring.

"Did anybody see you?" John enquired, still unable to tear his eyes away from where his shirt ended at the top of her thighs, yoghurt comically dripping from the spoon hovering an inch away from his gaping mouth.

"No, Sarah is asleep and Amy is playing outside." As she turned around and caught his questioning look at that last comment, she shrugged, "It's hot out."

"Good. Remember that talk mom had with you a couple of years ago about walking around the house in your underwear?" John asked with a smirk as he took a bite of toast.

"Yes." Cameron smiled as she replayed the memory, seemingly lost in her chip for a moment, "She sat me down and talked at me for fifteen minutes about why it was inappropriate behaviour around you."

Snapping out of her momentary daze, she flashed John a smile, her eyes sparkling like they usually did whenever she was experiencing happiness, one of her favourite new emotions, "I didn't understand the issue she had with it at the time. It was simply logical to apply my makeup without the risk of getting any on my clothes…those stains are difficult to remove."

Chuckling around a mouthful of toast, John shuffled a little higher in the bed, "Yeah, I guess mom didn't really appreciate it when you told her that."

"No, she didn't. Human behaviour was very confusing to me back then." She deadpanned, idly stealing a chunk of banana from his bowl and popping it in her mouth.

"I thought you said you weren't hungry?" John asked as he looked between the bowl and the enigma he called his girlfriend with 'what the hell?' written all over his face.

"I'm not." With that, she surprised him when she leaned over and dropped a kiss on his forehead before floating away towards the closet.

Shaking his head with a slight eye roll, John returned to his breakfast and watched her. She was…glowing. Really, she almost danced around the room on the balls of her feet, no wasted movement or effort and yet still graceful, all in defiance of her weight and construction.

Her behaviour was baffling. It had been a couple of days since he'd discovered her…'on button', in the bedroom. Consequently, he'd also discovered that said button had painful implications, something he still hadn't brought up with her yet.

But ever since then, she'd been in what was probably the best mood anybody had ever seen her in. She'd made dinner for the family, and taken Sarah shopping without his mother coming home looking like she wanted to rip somebody's arm off and beat them to death with it. She'd gone out to the park at the end of the street to play with Amy, had an actual, pleasant conversation with Derek and even promised Jessica she would head out with her for a girly night out…provided she got her mom's permission of course.

But on a personal level, she seemed completely enamoured with John, lavishing attention on him at every turn. All without a pout, a frown or even a single one of those disapproving silences she was so fond of. She hadn't even complained when he'd stayed up late working on his laptop, neglecting her for all intents and purposes.

When he finally did finish his work, he'd crashed pretty much straight away. She didn't even bat an eyelid when he crawled into bed beside her and closed his eyes. She'd simply snuggled against him and told him she loved him. Sex hadn't came up, not even once. Which was surprising given the fact that she'd been pretty blown away by the last time they'd partaken in it, he thought she'd have become even more demanding because of it.

Instead though she'd been happy, delighted, an absolute pleasure…and it made John's heart flutter whenever he saw her.

Through all his musing, his mind had drifted to the point he was no longer chewing, consequently he was caught by surprise when the object of his thoughts settled down on the bed beside him, leg tucked underneath her, a small tube clutched in her hand. After a questioning look from her, no doubt in reference to his zoned out look, John shook his head and smiled, "What's going on?"

Without a word, she unscrewed the cap off the tube and squeezed a small drop of the contents on to her fingertip. Before John realised what was happening, he hissed in a mixture of surprise and pain as she slowly started applying the cream to the deep wounds on his chest…the same wounds she left on him when she dragged her nails over his skin the last time they made love.

The sting subsiding after a few moments of her delicate fingers massaging gentle circles over the still tender skin, John looked at her face, her expression carrying a curious mix of concern and intrigue. Surprisingly though, John noted it carried no hint of regret or remorse, none at all, it was as if she didn't feel guilty for the damage she'd caused.

"What is that stuff?" John asked, trying to get a better look at the tube which apparently contained some sort of miracle pain relieving cream.

"It's Sudocrem." After a moment, she halted the movement of her fingers when she saw John's eyebrow creep up his forehead, "It isn't sold in the United States, but I ordered some from a web based store when I was restocking our medical supplies."

"Its primary purpose is to treat something called diaper rash, but its pain and inflammation relieving properties are second to none." Her explanation sounded suspiciously like the sales blurb from the website it was ordered from, but she seemed happy with it as she resumed her tender massaging of the scratches.

"Okaaaay," John replied with a chuckle. He watched her apply more of the cream to her fingertips, and then move onto the next major abrasion. He hissed when the cold substance came into contact, but it soon warmed and started to feel pretty good.

He studied her face carefully as she worked…mostly to stop himself from looking down at the top three buttons of her shirt that had either came undone or were left that way on purpose. He had a sneaking suspicion it was the latter.

Deciding he had to dig a little deeper, he very carefully asked the question that had been bugging him for the past couple of days, "Cameron, um…do you have any idea how I got these marks on my chest, and these on my neck?"

He gestured to the still fairly obvious bit marks on his neck that he'd somehow managed to keep concealed from his family since she left them on him.

Looking up from her task to his face and keeping up the movement of her fingers, she tilted her head to the side curiously, "Yes. You got them from your training with Derek."

Her simple clarification brought a frown to John's face. It was small, but it was there. "Is that what you believe?"

"Of course, that's what you told me." She answered without any hesitation, not quite understanding why John was doubting what he himself had told her. Perhaps this was yet another facet of human behaviour she was yet to understand.

"I know that's what I told you." Treading very carefully, he reached out and laid his hand on top of hers on the bed, "Princess, I need you to concentrate, okay? Can you…remember anything that happened the last time we made love?"

Glancing down to where his thumb was gently caressing her hand, Cameron's brow cinched together and her fingers stopped moving, "I told you I loved you."

Her token offering wasn't quite what John was looking for, but it brought a smile to his face nonetheless. "That's not what I meant. I love you too by the way. What I meant was, do you remember what we actually did? The way you were acting?"

Brow knitting even further together as she tried to access the memories of that night, Cameron's confusion only deepened when she found she was somehow unable to access certain files and memory clusters. Some things remained, her profession of love, her almost overwhelming climax. But for the most part she couldn't remember how she ended up at that point in the first place.

"I, I don't…" Looking like she was on the verge of some sort or confusion riddled breakdown, she looked up at John for answers, and then quickly back down to his chest where her fingers still rested. Feeling his heart thudding faster than it was a few moments ago under her fingertips, she again tried to access the memories she was looking for.

John simply waited and watched as a myriad of emotions played out across her face, confusion primary amongst them. Cameron just couldn't understand why certain things eluded her, she'd never been denied access to any of her files before. Her confusion was allayed however as she was finally able to open up a fragment of a memory, seemingly triggered by looking at the marks on her lover's skin. Immediately pulling her hand back from his chest, she looked horrified as the memory of her hands, her fingers, her nails scraped over John's skin.

He was in pain, he hissed, he grimaced, and yet she carried on. She was hurting him and she…she was getting off on it!

"Honey? Are you alright" John asked, his voice filled with concern as he reached out and took her hand in his, starting to regret pushing her like this.

"I…I…" Was all she could muster before she seemed to freeze for a split second. It was barely noticeable, imperceptible really, but to a highly aware John Connor the momentary flash of blue behind her usual chocolate eyes was as bright as a sixty watt bulb.

Just like that, it was like a switch had been flipped. Cameron's crushing grip on his hand relaxed, her expression melting into a warm smile as she resumed her gentle ministrations to the scratch marks that had been tormenting her a moment ago.

"We made love. I enjoyed it very much, and then I told you I love you." She said it without any hint of the inner turmoil she'd been through only a short time ago, sounding completely convinced that everything she'd just said was the truth.

Thrown totally by her schizophrenic like behaviour, John didn't know how to react. "And…and these?"

He gestured to the marks she was tending to with his free hand, nervously biting the inside of his lip while he waited what seemed like an age for her to answer.

Cameron looked down to where her fingers rested and frowned momentarily, "Derek should be more careful with you. I'll have a talk with him next time he is here."

Unsure if he should push any more, or be really worried about this development, John sat up in bed, ignoring Cameron's confused look as he gently removed her fingers from his chest and held her hand in his.

Slowly, he laid his free hand on her cheek and smiled when she tilted her head into the contact instinctively. Searching behind those deep, dark and impossibly expressive eyes, he looked for any sign. Something that might give him a hint as to what was going on in that chip of hers.

"What's wrong?" She asked suddenly, startling him as she watched him with unending curiosity and unlimited intelligence, hidden beneath a veneer of the most beautiful pair of eyes he'd ever seen.

Finally breaking into a half hearted smile, John decided it might be best not to press the issue for now. Whatever it was that was going on, it wasn't hurting her, or at least it didn't seem that way. "I'm just thinking about how beautiful you are."

As if on cue, her eyes flashed the merest hint of blue again, letting John know just how happy that little comment had made his Cameron. "Thank you."

Giving his hand a squeeze, she leaned forward and dropped a soft kiss on the lips of the man she cared for more than anything or anyone else, "I love you."

"I love you too, Cameron," John said with a grin as she resumed gently applying the wonder cream in silence.

Whether this development was going to be a good thing or a bad thing, he was pretty sure this was going to be a good day regardless.

* * *

><p>How come the press seemed interested in every little thing she did today? Weren't they supposed to be there to cover the fun day, get her dad's company some good publicity?<p>

Was it really all that interesting to watch her eat a hot dog with her niece? Apparently so. It made it kind of difficult to enjoy it, despite the fact Amy couldn't stop giggling when she got tomato sauce on her nose.

Eventually though, they lost interest when she ushered Amy off to play again and sat down at a picnic table to check her phone. She had a feeling these new fangled smartphone things would really catch on. She could do everything on it, check her email, have a check of her 'Twitter' thingy. Even get in some shoe shopping!

Tongue poking out between her lips as she considered placing an order for an eight hundred dollar pair of strappy heels, she had to glance down and check that they weren't exactly the same as the ones she had on. Satisfied they weren't, these had sparkly bits decorating them, she placed the order. Smiling wide at her successful capturing of her new babies, she barely noticed the grey haired man that sat down beside her and had been watching for the past thirty seconds as she concentrated entirely on her screen.

"Hi Bunny!"

"Jeez, dad!" Aiming a chastising swat at his arm, Jessica tried so stop her heart from pounding out of her chest, "Don't scare me like that!"

Chuckling to himself, he leaned over and pulled her head in close so he could drop a kiss on her forehead, just the way he always did, and knew she hated because it messed with her hair, "Sorry, Baby. I couldn't resist, you were just so engrossed in what you were doing."

"Daaaad!" Whining, she shrugged his hand off her head. He knew she hated it when he did that…or at least, that's what she wanted him to believe. She secretly loved it, despite the hassle of having to fix her hair each and every time. "How many years have I been telling you not to do that?"

"Hmm, how old are you now?" He asked with a smirk, holding his fingers out ready to count on them.

Rolling her eyes, Jessica allowed the smile that was threatening to break through her mock irritation out into the open. "Twenty four, and you well know it!"

Counting off his fingers with a grin and pulling them out of her grasp when she reached for them, Donald counted off the years, "Well then, I guess you've been telling me for twenty years."

"And you're still not taking any notice!"

"I'm a slow learner." Smiling wide, he pulled his little girl into an enveloping hug, his much larger frame dwarfing her.

Cuddling herself in, she gave him a tight squeeze as she kissed his cheek, "You know it musses my hair, daddy. It's not funny."

"Then why do you keep laughing?" He asked, letting her go with a chuckle.

Despite the fact she was laughing, she sighed to herself. Her eyes dropped to her lap where her hands were neatly folded.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked, immediately filled with concern for his daughter. He didn't like it when she wasn't happy, as most father's don't.

"I dunno." She admitted with a shrug, "I guess I'm just a little disappointed Derek isn't here. Seeing you has just reminded me you were supposed to meet him today."

"Oh yeah. Why isn't he here?" Donald asked, his first thought being a fear that she'd been let down by yet another asshole guy.

"He promised John he'd take him fishing this weekend, couldn't get out of it." In truth, Derek simply made an excuse to get out of it and John reluctantly backed him up. He had absolutely zero intentions of being stuck for a day with screeching kids and one particularly annoying example of the liquid metal variety.

But her being the nice, kind soul that she was, she believed his hastily sputtered out excuse. When John nodded in agreement Derek knew he was off the hook, even if he did feel a little guilty for letting her down.

"Oh, well then I guess I'll see him some other time." Somewhat disappointed that he'd once again missed out on meeting this guy, Donald smiled sympathetically.

"Yeah…" Sucking in a deep breath, Jessica forced a smile and scanned around the place, locating Amy and making sure she was okay, "Today seems to be going well."

"Yeah," Donald agreed with her observation, looking around at what had become of his empire for the day, "My publicist tells me it's a rousing success."

Rolling his eyes, he winced when a kid ran past the picnic table, wailing at the top of its lungs, "Although I'm kinda glad it's a one off."

"Mmm, it must be hell. Your office is as quiet as a grave most of the time." Grinning, she leaned over and bumped his shoulder with hers, "I bet you're just loooving this!"

"It's not very often a weapons manufacturer gets to put on a friendly face," He shrugged, knowing it was a necessity, albeit a loud and annoying one. "I've heard you're helping with that by the way."

"Me?" She asked like it was nothing, "I get paid to have my photo taken every day. If taking a few shots for my dad helps then who am I to argue?"

"I also hear you have a little friend keeping you company."

"Amy?" A delightful shy smile found it's way to her lips as she thought about the girl in question, "Daddy, she's the cutest little thing…doesn't like the camera though."

"So she's not like you then?" At her questioning look, he got a smile of his own as he thought back to his daughter growing up, "You've loved the camera ever since you were a little kid, and it's loved you too."

"What can I say? I'm photogenic!" She fluffed and shook her hair out dramatically, complete with a model pout, immediately followed by a burst of giggling, accompanied by her dad.

"That you are," He replied with a smile. "So, which one's yours?"

Quickly trying to locate a telltale streak of pink and blonde that signified her Amy, Jessica's eyes lit up as she leaned close to her dad and pointed her out in the crowd. "You see the little blonde over there?"

Following where she was pointing, Donald's eyes immediately widened in surprise, "You mean the little blonde shoving the older boy's face in the dirt?"

"That's my girl." Despite her proud smile, Jessica realised she was supposed to be proving her responsibility today. "Um, I should probably go stop that shouldn't I? That boy is almost a foot taller than her."

"Uh huh, not to mention he's the son of one of my main suppliers. Last thing I need is somebody tattling."

"You wanna meet her?" Jessica asked excitedly as she rose to her feet, ignoring the implications her dad obviously saw.

"Um, sur…" Before he could even finish speaking, he found himself being pulled up to stand by his surprisingly strong and overly excited daughter. Being dragged across your own front lawn by a waif of a girl was one thing, but having to dodge flying kids at every step was just a little too much.

"Amy! Could you come over here please?"

Pulling her tongue back into her mouth, Amy finished her taunting of the boy she'd left in tears. She did warn him to stop pulling her pigtails, he got everything he deserved, including the mouthful of dirt…and the bug down his shirt. She _hated_ having her pigtails pulled.

Still though, she looked a little busted when Jessica called for her. Suddenly her promise to be a good girl wasn't looking so healthy. Skipping her way over, her targeting systems quickly identified Donald Grey, CEO of Aegis. Jessica's dad.

However, in keeping with her cover, Amy skidded to a stop a few steps short of what was apparently going to be an introduction and shuffled nervously on the spot, eyeing the 'stranger' warily.

Sensing Amy's hesitance, Jessica kneeled down beside her and started brushing the dirt off her dress. "Who's that?" A small voice from beside her asked, Amy's stare focused solely on the older man.

"Amy, I'd like you to meet my dad." She beckoned the older man over with a wave, but had to glance down at the firm grip Amy had on her arm, and she didn't fail to notice the way the girl had moved closer into her side. She had to admit, her dad didn't look the most appealing if you didn't know or love him. He did have more of a look of a rugged scoundrel about him, rather than an upstanding businessman.

"Mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Bottom lip poking out far enough for a small bird to land on it, Amy really, really enjoyed playing up to her little girl image. Based on way Jessica's face melted, so did she.

"Oh honey, it's okay." Pulling her dad closer by grabbing the bottom of his jacket, Jessica gently rubbed Amy's back encouragingly, "He's not a stranger to me, and you know me, so that means he's not a stranger to you either…right?"

Face scrunching up like it was the most difficult thing she'd ever had to think about, Amy considered Jessica's words carefully, "I guess."

"So, I'd like you to meet my dad." Proud of her ability to cajole the kid into believing her, a hallmark of any good parent, Jessica smiled over at her dad, "Say hello."

Donald crouched down in front of the blonde, his bad knee creaking from the strain, and held out his hand. In truth he looked like he was about to greet a business associate rather than an eight year old girl, and Jessica rolled her eyes accordingly. "Hi Amy. It's nice to meet you."

"Um," Amy glanced at her aunt briefly before answering, "Hi, Mr. Jessica."

Chuckling to himself, Donald took Amy's, rather cold, hand and shook it gently. "Please, call me Donald."

Amy stubbornly shook her head, looking like that idea appalled her, "Mommy says I'm supposed to call grownups Mr. or Mrs. It's rude if I say your first name."

"Well, I won't tell anyone of you don't." Leaning close, he winked conspiratorially, bringing a wide smile to Amy's face.

"See, Amy? He's not so bad…once you get to know him." Flashing a grateful smile at her dad, Jessica stood up again and snagged Amy's hand. Catching the look on Donald's face, she stopped and tilted her head, mouthing 'what?'.

Shaking his head, he smiled dismissively and looked down at Amy, who seemed to be examining him with a keen eye. If he wasn't so sure she was a harmless little girl, he'd have been unnerved by the intensity of her stare.

"When Aunt Jessica marries Uncle Derek, will you be my grandpa?" Out of the blue as it was, the question caught both adults by surprise, especially Donald who laughed wholeheartedly, making Amy frown a little.

Jessica joined in, laughing along with her dad, despite Amy's apparent bemusement. "What? What are you laughing at?" She folded her arms across her chest in a huff, she hated being laughed at.

"I, I don't think it works that way, sweetie." Smiling apologetically, Jessica dropped a conciliatory kiss on her forehead, "I think he'd be your…great uncle, right?"

Donald shrugged, "Something like that. Definitely not Grandpa though…not for a while anyway."

The wink he flashed his daughter's way brought a smile to her face that would power Las Vegas for weeks. Amy though was unmoved and still kept up her pout and folded arm stance, "But I want a Grandpa. I've never had a Grandpa."

Jessica was pretty sure Amy was about to stamp her foot if she didn't get her way, so she pre-empted that by wrapping her up in a big hug. Despite an initial squirming from the girl, she eventually felt her tiny arms wrap around her neck and squeeze, but she still got the feeling it was a little reluctantly.

Donald watched the exchange with a smile on his face.

_Huh, perhaps a grandkid might not be such a bad thing…if I could only meet the guy who'd be the father first._

"Hey, listen, Jess, I've gotta go meet a few more people. Are you gonna be around later for dinner maybe?"

Breaking the hug, Jessica frowned as she realised she wouldn't be able to make it, "Sorry, daddy, I have to make sure Amy gets home alright. Sarah will never, ever forgive me if anything happens to her. She can be…intense."

As Amy grinned up at her Aunt, intense was an understatement, several photographers headed their way. Just what was it with the human need to take pictures of everything and then splash it all over print for others to see? It was a baffling obsession that Amy didn't understand in the slightest.

Still though, Jessica seemed to enjoy it as she leaned into her father's side with her perfect smile in place, even going so far as to drop a kiss on his cheek for the cameras. Realising the introductions were apparently over, Amy took off running towards the slide.

"Amy! I'll come get you when it's time to go home, 'kay?"

Jessica watched as Amy barely nodded in reply. Returning to her smile and the camera, she whispered in her dad's ear, "Be careful with this journalist. She has a habit of…bending the truth."

Nodding with a smile, Donald let go of his girl and gave her arm a squeeze in appreciation, "I'll see you later, bunny. We'll catch up during the week."

"Okay daddy." Dropping one last kiss on his cheek, she separated from him and returned to the spot she'd left on the picnic table.

After barely a moment and only a single swig from her water bottle, a deep voice startled her from behind. "Excuse me, Miss Grey?"

* * *

><p><em>He was nice. He loves Jessica, I guess that makes him a good guy, right?<em>

As Amy climbed the steps of the slide, she mulled over her first meeting with Mr. Grey. She was satisfied the cuteness factor had worked the way she wanted, no problems there. Come on, who wouldn't that work on?

But the guy was important one way or another. She had a feeling having a major weapons manufacturer on side might help someday, even if only for his expertise in the future.

_Ugh, there's that boy again. Is he still crying? What a wuss! I only pushed his face in the dirt, you'd think I'd grabbed and squeezed private places the way he's acting._

Wishing the boy would man up, Amy slid down the slide, coming clean off the end and landing on her ass in the dirt with a grin.

She loved playing. Ever since she'd first been shown how, it was a source of release for her. Cameron had her dancing and more R rated activities to help her relieve a little stress. Sarah had her punching bag. Jessica and Derek had each other, and she had her playtime.

She actually felt sorry for John, what did he have? Not much as far as Amy could tell. She could only imagine what he was like before he had Cameron. What did the future leader of all mankind do before she came along?

As she was contemplating that question, she found herself engulfed in a large shadow being cast from behind her.

"Miss Baum, could you come with me please?"

Turning her head around slowly to face the cause of the shadow, Amy rolled her eyes.

_Seriously? Did that boy tattle on me or something? Jeez, what a girl!_

"Why?" She politely enquired of the man in a black suit, clearly he was security judging from the earpiece and the obvious bulge in his jacket created by his sidearm.

"I've been asked to collect you by Miss Grey." His deep voice boomed out against the volume created by shrieking kids and chattering parents.

Standing up and brushing the dirt off her dress, Amy faced the large human, staring up at his sunglasses covered eyes, "Aunt Jessica? Why?"

"Unfortunately there's been an incident."

Amy's metaphorical heart leapt into her mouth at those words. Had something happened to Jessica? How? This place was full of kids and rich parents, it wasn't exactly Helmand province or anything.

"Is she okay?" Amy asked warily, not liking at all where this was going.

"Yes, of course, we're taking care of her. But she's refusing to leave the area until we collect you and bring you to her." Adjusting his jacket, the man held out his hand for the girl to take. "We have orders from Mr. Grey to get his daughter out of here. We can't do that until you come with me."

Eyeing the outstretched hand warily, Amy didn't know what to believe. On one hand, this guy as far as she could tell was telling the truth. He really had orders to retrieve her and bring her to Jessica. On the other hand, it seemed a little odd that only a few minutes ago everything was fine. Slowly, she took the hand and ran a quick scan. Yeah, the guy was definitely telling the truth.

"Thank you." Clearly uncomfortable, the man forced a smile as he took her hand and started leading her towards the main building.

"Where is she?" Amy asked, scanning her surroundings carefully for any signs of the danger the man was alluding to.

"She's in the building and waiting for you." He answered as he kept up the quickest pace he could with such a small person in tow. He hated assignments with kids, their little legs made moving quickly a real pain in the ass.

Something just didn't feel right about this for Amy. Alright, she understood that if there was any remote danger, then security's first job would be to secure the VIP's, that meant Mr. Grey and his daughter first and foremost. Looking around, there was no sign of Donald either. Knowing Jessica too, she was terrified of Sarah. If anything happened to her, Jessica would never forgive herself, so her concern was pretty obviously real.

Another thing was the guard who had collected her. He was being honest, truthful.

_You're being paranoid, Amy. Snap out of it. Go see your Aunt, make sure she's fine and then get out of here. Think about all this later._

As they approached the main building, the guard veered off towards a side door, apparently the security entrance near the underground car park. He guided her in through the door as best and gently he could, given his obvious, massive size difference. Once there, they met with three other men, none of whom she recognised.

Stopping and feigning reluctance, Amy looked up at the man beside her for any reaction. She got none, he merely maintained his professionalism and nodded to the other men, "This is Miss Baum, as requested."

"Thanks, Jones." Nodding, one of the men stepped forward and held his hand out towards the centre of the room. A moment later the man, apparently Jones, let go of her hand and gave her a half smile before departing out the way he came.

"Where's my Aunt?" Amy asked, her voice quivering with apparent worry.

Glancing past her, the man who'd approached first made sure Jones was gone before shouting, "Now!"

The next thing Amy knew, her body was frozen in place by something strong, something powerful…a magnetic field.

Collapsing forward, she barely caught sight of the man in front of her stepping back quickly as her vision clouded with too many warning messages and alerts to decipher. The magnetic pull was so strong it forced her to the ground in no time, her liquid metal matrix already losing cohesion, losing her shape.

Forcing her head to turn, it was almost like watching in slow motion as all three men grinned triumphantly. Struggling to hold her shape against the powerful field, she watched as a fourth man emerged from a door at the back of the room…Quinn.

It was a trap all along. Jessica was the bait and she was the prey. How could she be so stupid?

Quinn stepped closer, his boots thundering off the ground with each step. Brazenly he crouched down by what was now a mass of liquid metal with little to no shape, mixed in with a few patches of pink of what used to be Amy's dress. The machine remained online long enough to hear Quinn laughing evilly before standing.

"Alright, let's pack it up and get out of here. Mr. Vasquez wants his new toy as soon as possible."

With that, Amy's consciousness blinked out, overcome by the strength of the magnet, her systems unable to cope and shutting down to protect themselves.

The last thing she remembered was feeling alone, vulnerable…afraid.

* * *

><p><strong>Next up, Jessica learns a terrible secret!<strong>

**Thanks as always to Dekardkain.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi,**

**Nice quick update this time, don't get used to it!**

* * *

><p>"Sarah, just stop and listen to me for one second!" Derek yelled, slowly moving between an irate Sarah and his still passed out girlfriend. He glanced to John for help, but he seemed a little lost off himself, "She didn't know anything, remember. She still thinks Amy is your little girl!"<p>

"Her security goons just tried to ice you in her apartment! _She_ was the one who invited Amy to that stupid fun day! _She_ lost her!" Sarah bit back harshly, in no mood for Derek trying to defend this girl.

"_She_ was dragged away by security!" He shook his head and glanced back at the woman in question, "What? Did you expect her to overpower two goons, go grab Amy and take her out for pancakes?"

"They were her own people, they wouldn't have hurt her!" Growling, Sarah tossed the last of the gauze and tape back into the med kit and stormed over into Derek's face, "Face it, Reese, you got played! She used you!"

"These guys weren't Aegis security. They..." Frowning, he knew what he was about to say would only make Sarah's mood worse, "They were mercenaries, and they recognised me right away, Sarah."

"How do you know they were mercs?" Looking down at Jessica, she appeared one step short of slapping the girl around until she woke up.

"I know, alright. Just trust me on that." Again Derek made sure he was blocking the path to the girl behind him, he did _not_ want Sarah anywhere near his Jessica, at least until she'd calmed down a bit.

Speaking of that girl, Jessica slowly came to, blinking her eyes in an effort to clear them. It took a moment to register her stomach doing somersaults before she heard familiar, raised voices, "D, Derek?"

Shoving a finger up into Sarah's face, Derek was practically begging her to relax for a moment as he spun on a heel and kneeled down to stroke the hair out of Jessica's face, "Hey, you're safe. You're at Sarah's house."

"Sarah's? Why are we..." In a flash, the memories all came flooding back...

_Jessica made her way out of the bathroom with a swing to her hips and a spring in her step, grinning nearly ear to ear as she kept up with the song she'd been listening to in the shower, "Cal-i-fornia girls, they're unforgettable, daisy dukes, bikinis on top! Sun-kissed skin, so hot..." Her words trailed off when she rounded the corner, still using her spare towel to dry her hair, head quirking to the side at the scene before her, "D... Derek?"_

_Before her boyfriend could respond, he was slammed backwards into the wall by a much larger figure in a multi-thousand dollar suit, a pistol brandished in one hand before Derek knocked it away with a downward swipe of his hand. With a low grunt, he slammed the larger man back into the opposite wall of the hallway, headbutting him harshly. The attacker had barely managed to hit his knees before a bloodied Derek leaned forward and grabbed him around the neck, twisting at an odd angle until a sickening 'snap' filled the room. _

_Stumbling backwards, Derek ran a hand over his bloodied mouth, grumbling as the limp body fell to the floor, "Asshole... oh, fuck!"_

_Another figure rounding the corner, he ducked low, slamming a fist into the man's side as he lifted his gun-hand high enough that the round he squeezed off swept harmlessly into the ceiling, "Where are you... guys... coming from? A... clown car?"_

_Ducking under a vicious swing from the well-tailored security man, Derek nearly lifted him off his feet with a text book uppercut, catching the sidearm in the air like an action movie and pointing it at the man's forehead as soon as he slammed into the antique hardwood. Without even the slightest hesitation, he fired off two quick shots, sending Jessica stumbling back into the wall behind her, covering her scream as best she could with her hand._

_Glancing up as he wiped the spattered blood from his face, Derek froze in terror as he realized his Jessica has just seen what happened, stumbling towards her with an arm outstretched, "Honey... I didn't..."_

_That was the last thing she remembered as the floor rushed up to meet her._

Her face twisted into a one of horror as she vividly recalled Derek snapping a guy's neck like it was a twig, the sickening sound of bones and muscles crunching as he twisted. She pushed back as far as she could to get away from him, slapping the hand that had made her feel good so often away from her face in a panic, "Y, you killed two guys!"

"Jess! Baby! Relax, okay?" Holding his hands up in an effort to calm her down, he tried to keep his voice low and steady, "I did kill them... but," He did have to raise his voice when she immediately started to freak out again, "BUT! I only did it because they tried to kill me first...and there were actually three of them"

"I heard his neck snapping...it was horrible!" Still trying to push back as far away from him on the couch as she could, she noticed her surroundings for the first time. Sarah looked like she wanted to kill her, and Cameron was quietly rubbing John's hand...wait, why were they holding hands, "What's going on?"

Noticing her focus on the couple, Derek rolled his eyes, unable to handle this much stupidity in one day, "Would you two knock it off? Hasn't she been through enough?"

Letting go of John's hand with a pout, Cameron silently folded her hands in her lap. Rolling his eyes at the loss of contact, John took her hand back in his and gave it a squeeze while he glared up at Derek, "She's gonna find out sooner or later, Derek."

"It doesn't have to be right now." Glad to have somewhere to vent his anger, Derek almost wanted to thank the pair, "She just saw me kill four guys with my hands."

Ignoring the unimpressed scoff from Sarah, Jessica looked between people she considered family like they had all become insane overnight, "What the hell is going on here?"

Tired of the hysterics and just wanting to get the search for Amy going, Sarah stepped over to the couch, "I'll break it down for you. I'm not a house mother, Derek isn't a mercenary - for that he'd actually have to get _paid_ to kill people, John and Cameron... share a bed, and AMY IS MISSING! Any questions?"

Mouth hanging open at the suddenly threatening looking woman edging towards her, Jessica considered pinching herself to see if this was some sort of dream. Ignoring the more odd statements, she focused on the shouted one, "Missing? No, the security guys said they'd bring her home, they promised."

Jessica didn't understand, the guy who told her there was a security threat promised they'd bring Amy to her apartment once they'd gotten her out of there. She knew these men, they were daddy's security, they wouldn't lie…although, she didn't recognise the man at the time who collected her.

"What, you didn't recognise the guys Derek had to kill?" Narrowing her eyes, Sarah's hand rested menacingly on the .45 shoved into the front of her pants, "They _were_ the security. They took Amy, and tried to kill your boyfriend. So either you start talking... or I leave the room and you and Cameron will have a long chat."

Looking over at her friend who appeared to be completely focused on her brother, Jessica fought off the urge to shrug, "Why Cameron?"

"Because she's not as nice as I am." Glancing over at the machine, she tossed her chin in Jessica's direction, "And she's pretty pissed about you helping them nab her sister."

Cameron looked far from pissed. In fact, it was John who looked more pissed, glaring up at his mother, "Leave Cameron out of this, don't use her like that."

Sighing, he slowly stood and walked over to Jessica, giving Cameron's hand one final squeeze, "Look, Jessica, just tell us what you remember about today. When was the last time you saw Amy?"

"I already told you!" Looking around the room frantically, she hugged her knees to her chest, "Daddy's security guys showed up, they told me they would make sure she got home. They said there was an emergency!"

"You didn't see anything suspicious? Nobody talked to Amy?" Sarah pressed, arms folded across her chest, not believing the model for a second.

"She was playing with the other kids, I barely saw her all day." Laying her chin on her knees, she looked at Derek pleadingly, "Derek... I... I want to go home."

"You can't, babe." At the horrified look on her face, he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous. Believe me, there's no safer place right now than here."

"This doesn't make any sense!" Shutting her eyes with a groan, Jessica kept praying this was all just a bad dream, "Why would they go to all this trouble to kidnap a little girl? I mean, no offence, but it's not like you guys have money or anything."

John looked between his uncle displaying a side he'd rarely seen before, and his mother who looked ready to fight someone, anyone. Giving Derek a nudge and looking up at Sarah, he came to a decision, using those command instincts he was just starting to develop, "Tell her...everything."

"You have got to be kidding!" Looking ready to throttle her own son, Sarah seethed at the idea, "John, she's a security risk! For all we know she's been feeding them intel from day one! And you want us to open up our lives and tell her everything?"

Standing up to his full height, John stood toe to toe with his mother. Even Cameron looked intrigued as to what might happen. Trying to keep his voice steady despite his heart pounding, John looked Sarah right in the eye, "We tell her. She isn't responsible for this, and she isn't going to betray us. If she was, we'd be surrounded right now and they wouldn't have needed to lure us out in the open to hurt us."

After keeping her eyes locked on her son's for the longest few seconds of John's life, Sarah tossed her hands up in frustration, "I don't have time for this. I'm going to start looking for Amy."

Storming over to the chair, she grabbed her coat and her favourite shotgun, pausing in the doorway just long enough to cast a menacing glance back at the couch, "If I find out she had anything to do with this... I'll kill her myself, John. And not even you will be able to stop me. Understood?"

Nodding slowly, John let the breath out he'd been holding, "Mom…be careful."

"You too." Nodding crisply in reply, she shouldered the door open, "Keep this place on lockdown until you hear from me. We have no idea if they're going to hit us again."

Cameron watched the entire argument with a growing sense of wonder, padding over to John as soon as the door had slammed behind Sarah, "She took that well."

"Better than I'd hoped." Forcing a smile, he rested his hand on Cameron's lower back, idly rubbing his thumb over her skin. "Jessica, we have some explaining to do, please don't freak out. We're not going to hurt you, but you have to listen carefully, okay?"

Only clutching her knees more tightly, Jessica forced herself to nod a little, glad Sarah had finally left. At least John seemed to be on her side, "I'm listening."

Smiling what he hoped would be a calming smile, John laid his hand on his uncle's shoulder, "Tell her, from the start, the whole story. J-Day, everything...including Amy...and Cameron."

Looking over at his girlfriend, he caught the nervous look on her face. Guiding her with the hand on her back, he led her over to the other couch and took her hand in his. Still though, it didn't shake the pensive look off her face.

"I uh... I guess I should start with me." Frowning himself, Derek sat down on the coffee table in front of Jessica looking tired and defeated, although quite impressed with the leadership his nephew was displaying, "Um, what year do you think I was born in?"

Brow cinching together, she really did fear everyone around her had gone insane, "What kind of question is that, Derek? I dunno, nineteen eighty or something?"

"The only person in this room born in the eighties was John." Tossing his head in his nephew's direction, he rubbed his stubble with a shrug, "Nineteen eighty five. I was born ten years later."

Doing some quick maths in her current emotional state wasn't easy, but she managed to come to a figure with a scrunched up face, "That would make John twenty four and you fourteen. What the hell are you talking about?"

"There is a fourteen year old me out there." Trying his best to get this across, he leaned forward, nearly pleading with her to listen, understand and believe him, "Do you remember that night we got drunk, spent hours having sex, and then you asked me about my scars?"

Glancing nervously over at the siblings on the couch, Jessica nodded, "Yeah. You told me you got them in the war."

"And I did." Frowning, he looked down at his boots, "Just not the one you thought I was talking about. Do you remember what I told you caused that strange one? Right before I told you to go to sleep?"

"Um, vaguely. That circle one with the three marks around it?" Jessica asked, trying to remember the word he used, "A, a Hydro something?"

Nodding eagerly, he reached out and held her hand, "A Hydrobot. I know this all sounds crazy, but in the next few years, a defence system is going to become self-aware. It's going to try to wipe out every human on Earth."

Trying to continue before she totally freaked out, his words kept picking up speed as he went, "It's going to launch a full-scale nuclear attack that wipes out half of us in one day. Judgment Day. Eventually, we turn the tide, we beat it. But it had technology light-years ahead of ours. It tried to change the past, to win the war, by sending machines back in time to kill our leader. People like me were sent back to stop them."

Taking a moment to make sure Derek wasn't about to break out into a fit of giggles and yell 'gotcha!', Jessica shook her head, laughing herself, "What? Come on, Derek, are you high or something?"

Not looking at all amused, Derek popped the buttons on his shirt sleeve and rolled it up to his elbow, shoving the barcode forward, "Didn't you ever wonder where I got this?"

Shrugging, she stared down at the barcode, "Lots of people get crazy tattoos."

"The machines rounded us up like cattle. Those that could work were worked until they died. Those who couldn't... well, you've studied the Nazis." Shaking his head, he tried to will her to understand, to believe him. "One man stopped all that. He freed us, taught us to fight. He beat the machines. And I'm here to protect him."

"Who?" She asked, starting to think he really was being serious.

Sighing, for some odd reason he felt this would be the hardest part to sell to his girlfriend, "Um... you're up, General, sir."

"General? Sir?" Jessica watched as John stood and moved closer again, perching himself on the armrest at the opposite end of the couch.

"I'm the guy he's here to protect." Taking a moment, he glanced over at Cameron who offered him a small, encouraging smile, "I'm John Connor. I'm the one who saves all mankind. I beat the machines."

"You?" Looking torn between the desire to laugh and cry, Jessica kept glancing back and forth between John and Derek, "But you're... really,_you_?"

"Yes, me." Sighing, he knew she wasn't buying this, and couldn't help but look a little hurt that she didn't believe him in the slightest. "Look, I know this is hard to believe. But you have to. There are some of these machines here, now, in this time. Some of them are hunting for us."

"This doesn't make any sense." Tossing her hands up in the air, she looked insulted they expected her to believe this crap, "If they have time travel, why not just send back a whole army to kill you? Or better yet, if you could send Derek back, why not just make sure the damn thing isn't created in the first place? It kills half of all humans, that's a pretty good reason to scrap the project!"

"Because the people who made it in the first place didn't know what it was they were messing with. The first time Skynet was created, it became self aware. They panicked and tried to pull the plug. Skynet defended itself and we've been going around in this loop God knows how many times." John took a deep breath, hoping she'd believe him without having to resort to his 'proof' in Cameron. "It was created to protect us, and it ended up killing us. It's tried to kill me three times now. Once before I was born, once when I was ten, and again in 1999...when I was fifteen."

Again struggling with the mental math, that was Jessica's breaking point. John may be mature for his age, but there was no way in hell he was closing in on thirty, "Bullshit."

"We jumped eight years into the future to try and stop it, that's why your math isn't adding up. I'm almost seventeen now, but I should be twenty five."

"Twenty five my ass!" Practically climbing the back of the couch, Jessica was convinced she was in the presence of psychopaths, "And why do you and your sister constantly look like you're about to hump?"

"Because she's not his sister." When John froze and looked like he didn't want to admit the truth, Derek stepped in for him, "Right, John?"

Glancing over at his girlfriend, he shuddered when she looked even more afraid than he did, "Princess... can I tell her?"

Torn between the desire to keep her secret and her friend, and the almost compulsion to go with what John wanted, Cameron's face scrunched up in confusion. "No…I will."

Frowning a little at the sad look on Cameron's face, John rested a hand on Derek's shoulder, pulling him a few steps back from his girlfriend, "It's for the best. She trusts Cameron."

Glancing up in confusion herself, Jessica looked at her friend with wide eyes, "Princess? Why is he calling you that? Tell me what?"

Standing up and making her way over to her friend, Cameron sat down on the coffee table only a couple of feet away. Wringing her hands together nervously in her lap, she forced what she hoped was a warm smile, "I'm not John's sister. I'm his girlfriend, and…" Looking back at John again and smiling when he nodded, she looked back at Jessica, "And I'm one of them. I'm a creation of Skynet."

"A... a 'creation'?" Her eyebrows pulling together, it was still odd the way Jessica seemed to relax in Cameron's presence, "What does that mean? You're just a girl. I know... I tried to help you with your boyfriend. Remember? Sex and stuff?"

Feeling a blush creep up his cheeks, John laid a hand on Cameron's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "Show her, Princess."

Looking down at the floor, for the first time in a while, she felt the need to disobey her John, "Please... don't make me. They fear me when they know. In the future... they all did. I don't want it to be that way again. Please, John?"

"Fear you? Why would I fear you?" Looking between John and Cameron, Jessica felt lost, confused, scared…anything that Cameron could do surely wouldn't make her more scared than she already was.

Only looking more ashamed, Cameron turned around, suddenly lost as she clutched at her John's arm, "You see? I don't want to lose my friend. Please, John. I'm not that... thing, anymore. You told me yourself."

Crouching down behind her, John took Cameron's hand in his after managing to detach it from his arm. Ignoring the odd look on Derek's face, he stroked her skin soothingly while looking her in the eyes. "I know you're not, honey. But she's your friend, and I know you want her to be safe. If she doesn't believe us, then there's no way we can keep her here, protect her. It…it's up to you, Princess. If you don't want to, I'll understand."

Looking at her John, she lovingly stroked his cheek, resting her forehead against his and taking a small, shuddering breath, "You're sure she'll understand?"

Keeping his voice low so he wouldn't be overheard, John kissed her gently, "I think it'll frighten her. But I know deep down she'll still love you."

Nodding slowly, she pulled back, still gripping John's hand tightly as she turned to Jessica, "I'm sorry... please know that I am still the Cameron you know and care for. Are you ready?"

Looking a little in awe of what she was watching, Jessica nodded dumbly, mouth hanging open slightly.

"Skynet created many machines to hunt and kill John Connor. I am... the last." Looking over her shoulder, she only turned back to Jessica at John's nod, "I failed my mission. I was reprogrammed to protect him, here, in the past. But I have found so much more... I love my John. He loves me. Do you understand?"

"Reprogrammed? Created?" Shaking her head, Jessica looked on the verge of tears out of sheer frustration, "Cameron, what are you talking about?"

"I am a cyborg. Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton." Scrunching her eyes up, Cameron looked almost pained as she admitted it, "Created by Skynet to hunt and kill John. My John. But he saved me... he freed me. Now I choose my own fate. And I choose to be with him."

"Bullshit!" She never thought she'd ever do this, but she found herself shouting at the sweet flower she thought of as Cameron, "You're all liars and this is some kind of sick joke!"

"I assure you... it's not." Moving forward slowly, Cameron framed her friend's head with her hands, locking her eyes with hers. "I don't... I don't want to frighten you. But this is what John wants."

Without any further hesitation she flared her eyes, keeping Jessica's face locked in her hands despite the tears running down her cheeks.

Jessica didn't understand what she was seeing. Sure she was a little afraid, but she was still refusing to believe the bullshit story she was being fed, "No, no! You're…wearing special contacts or something!"

The glow behind her eyes fading, Cameron turned back to face her John who looked almost as surprised as she was about Jessica's stubborn refusal to accept the truth, even with pretty solid evidence.

"Look, Jessica, we're not…" John was stopped mid word when Cameron laid her hand on his arm from her spot on the table. Looking questioningly down at her, John tilted his head a fraction when he spotted her reaching into her back pocket with her free hand.

Offering John a sad smile, Cameron turned back to her friend, "You require more proof."

Not waiting for a reply, she lowered her gaze to her lap as she pulled her ever present flick knife out of her back pocket. The thing had always came in handy, especially when fighting other Terminators. She never imagined she'd be using it for the purpose she had in mind.

Catching sight of the knife, Jessica scrambled back again, thinking of course that Cameron intended her harm. But the girl's soft, shaking voice stopped her, "Please, I'm not going to harm you…I'm going to show you what I am."

Stepping forward, John laid his hand on her shoulder gently, "Cameron, you don't have to do this."

"It's okay, John. I do."

Stepping back, John felt a rush of pride welling up over his Cameron. He knew what she was about to do, and he couldn't help but be reminded of the way he'd treated her not so long ago. If she was willing to potentially go through that again, albeit not to the same extent, then she was a lot braver than he felt he could ever be. She truly was a special creation, and he didn't deserve her, not in the slightest.

"W, what are you doing?" Jessica asked pathetically, just wanting this nightmare to end as she watched the girl she called her friend nervously playing with the knife in her hand.

"Watch…" Flicking the knife open, Cameron held it against her forearm, just below her elbow. After a moment's hesitation, she screwed her eyes shut and hoped her emotions weren't having enough of an effect on her that she'd feel what she was about to do. Sinking the blade into her skin, she opened her eyes when she realised she felt nothing, no pain, nothing at all.

Following an internal sigh of relief, Cameron ignored the sharp intake of breath and the hastily sputtered objections from the direction of the couch and drew the blade several inches down her arm, towards her hand. When she had enough of an incision, she set the knife down in her lap and dug her fingers into the newly created opening.

Jessica watched in stark terror as the girl in front of her mutilated herself. Blood ran down her arm, the blade glinted in her skin…and then she dug her fucking fingers in the opening! What the hell was wrong with these people?

Just as Jessica's feet started moving again in an effort to push herself further away, Cameron pulled her wound open enough to show the main length's of coltan that made up her arm. Several servos and pistons moved when she opened her fingers and sank to her knees in front of the couch. She held her arm closer to the panic stricken Jessica in front of her, "Look."

"What? No, no way!" Jessica replied, stubbornly closing her eyes, she hated the sight of blood, and what Cameron was doing was just plain sick.

"Please, just open your eyes." Keeping her voice soft, Cameron held her arm closer and moved her fingers, just enough to make some noise, the room was quiet enough to hear the mechanics of her arm performing their functions, "Please?"

Something in Cameron's voice had Jessica opening her eyes tentatively, she was surprised about the fact that blood wasn't gushing all over the room right now like it should've been, it was a mere trickle instead. Her curiosity piqued, something drew her in closer and she looked inside the open wound.

What she saw made terror grip her heart. She moved her legs in an effort to try and get away, but she made little actual progress, fear overriding everything as she stared at the inner workings of Cameron's arm, "W, what are you?"

"I told you already." Using one of her hands to swipe at the tears on her cheek, Cameron tried to use the other to reach out and stroke Jessica's cheek soothingly, the same way John always did to calm her, "I am a cyborg. But I am not like the others. I make my own choices, and I have chosen to protect John, and all humans."

"Get, get off me!" Managing to get away from the thing in front of her, Jessica leapt up off the couch, barely catching the look of hurt stealing across Cameron's face. Instead she hid herself behind Derek, clutching at the back of his jacket as she seemingly forgot about what she saw him do to those men earlier.

Standing there for a long moment, Cameron's entire body seemed to shudder as she turned and clutched desperately to her John, "Do you see? This is how it was... this is how it will be. I'm alone... no one... no one trusts me!"

Fighting off the urge to glare at Jessica, John's heart clenched as Cameron gripped at him, the look of hurt on her face too much to handle. She didn't have many friends in this world, and one of them had just abandoned her, "Shhh, it's okay. She's just shocked is all."

As John softly whispered in his apparent girlfriend…girl machine thing's ear, Jessica hugged herself to Derek's back and whispered too, "Let's get out of here. Quick, while it's distracted."

Despite every instinct in his body, Derek had to shake his head. In the end, he trusted his General more than he would ever tell the kid, "No. That thing... that, 'girl', is going to be very important. John trusts her. So... so do I."

Looking like she'd just been betrayed more than Cameron had, Jessica shook her head, not understanding what was going on in the slightest, especially with her Derek, "W, what? How can you…Derek, it's not human!"

"Stop!" Finally deciding the gentle approach wasn't working, Derek pulled himself up to his full height, "You've just seen what we told you was true. You _know_ we're here to help you. Now ask yourself, do you think everything we have is a lie? Or do you believe that I love you?"

More than a little shocked at her boyfriend's raised voice, Jessica shrank under his gaze, "No, I know you love me. I know you'd never hurt me, but what about that?" She waved a hand in the direction of John trying to console Cameron on the coffee table.

"They hunted me... the put me in a camp! They tried to wipe us all out..." Clutching at her cheeks, Derek laid a gentle kiss on Jessica's lips, "And I trust her, because I trust John. He saves us all... every human on Earth. Please, I'm begging you, if you love me... trust _me_."

"I _do_ trust you. I _love_ you." Nervously glancing towards the cyborg, Jessica again positioned herself behind Derek, "Can we go home now? I, I promise I won't tell anybody what you've told me."

"Baby... I wish you could. I wish I could make this all go away like a bad dream." Smiling sadly, he stroked her cheek, "For both of us. But I can't. All I can do is protect you. Will you let me?"

Getting a little lost in a cloud of emotions, Jessica nodded dumbly and allowed him to guide her towards the stairs. She cast a nervous glance at the couple on the couch as they brushed past.

John could only clutch at an unusually shaky Cameron, dropping kisses along the curve of her jaw, "Please, talk to me. It's not so bad. See? She'll be okay."

"She hates me." Looking up at a departing Jessica, it only made Cameron feel worse, "She's my only human friend besides you, and now she hates me for what I am."

"She's just afraid." Clutching her cheeks, he tried to get his Cameron to meet his eyes, "Just like I was. Just like mom was. Just like Derek was. Did you hear what he said?"

Nodding against his hands, Cameron finally looked up at her John, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes, "He said he trusts me."

"And if Derek, of all people can trust you..." Smiling softly, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, "What does that mean?"

"If Derek can then anyone can?" She chanced, getting hopeful that she might not have lost her friend after all.

"Exactly." As soon as the pair had disappeared up the stairs he pulled back, only to dip back in and kiss Cameron deeply, his hands running through her hair as he mumbled against her lips, "I'm... so... proud of... you."

Enjoying the kiss for a few more seconds, Cameron pulled back with a relieved smile, "For what?"

"For being you. For telling the truth." Keeping her close, John tried to keep her mind off what just happened by drifting his lips up along her neck, "You've come so far. You really are my Cameron."

"Thank you." Shivering a little when he brushed his lips over her favourite spot, Cameron clutched at his t shirt tighter, "Should, should I go after your mother?"

"Not tonight," John answered with a shake of his head, his lips still gently moving over her skin. For whatever reason, probably the rush of pride and love he felt as he watched his Cameron do what needed to be done, John found himself 'in the mood', as it were.

He was so in the mood in fact that he barely noticed his precious girlfriend staring down at her arm, her mouth hanging open in obvious distress, "J, John…m, my arm. It's starting to hurt."

Pulling back almost immediately, John was ashamed to admit he'd almost forgotten about that. Her emotions must have gotten the better of her, she could feel pain now!

Dammit, why didn't he consider that earlier?

Immediately taking gentle hold of her arm, John inspected the damage, that was despite Cameron's initial reluctance to let her arm get too far from her body. Like a child learning about what they could feel, she was quickly developing the instinct for self preservation that John had been trying to instil in her for a while. Her breath hitched in her throat as he gently manipulated the skin a few inches from the wound. Damn, she was sensitive, "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Wincing despite the fact he'd let go, Cameron shifted her eyes up to meet his, looking confused and a little scared at the alien sensations running through her chip from her synthetic flesh. Never before had she felt so much pain, not even the first time when John had bit her ear during sex and caught her unawares. Mouth hanging open and a pained expression on her face, she looked at John for help, for him to make it better. "M, make it stop?"

Chest tightening, John stood up off the couch and gently pulled her with him. Forgetting about what had happened with Jessica, his mother, Amy, John remained solely focused on Cameron as she gingerly stood alongside him. Maybe this was what a parent felt when their child hurt themselves, that desire to do anything they could to make them feel better. "Come on, we'll use the med kit in our room."

Nodding pathetically, Cameron allowed John to guide her silently up the stairs, all the while concentrating her hardest to block out the pain. It didn't work. As John carefully set her down on the bed, she realised she hadn't let go of her arm since first registering she was feeling pain, for some reason clutching at it seemed to lessen the sensations, "John, I don't understand. It didn't hurt when I made the incision. Why now?"

Returning as quickly he could from retrieving the med kit from the bathroom, John kneeled down in front of her and tried to prise her iron grip away from her damaged arm. "Cameron, let me see, please?"

She stubbornly shook her head. She trusted John implicitly, but for some reason she didn't want to risk any more pain. John forced a smile and ducked into her eye line, "I promise, I won't hurt you. Let me help you."

Slowly, reluctantly, Cameron released the death grip she had on her arm and held it out towards John. She watched like a hawk as he gently took hold of it and examined the wound. It wasn't too bad considering the length of the cut. If she'd been human, it would have been a whole lot worse. Deciding nothing more than a few stitches were needed, he released her arm and opened the med kit by his side on the bed.

"W, what are you doing?" Cameron asked, although John noted she didn't move her arm away.

"This needs stitches. It'll heal quicker and the pain won't be as bad once I bandage it up." Smiling encouragingly, John threaded a needle expertly, frowning at the way Cameron looked like she was about to flinch out of his reach any time he moved the slightest fraction towards her.

Sucking in a deep breath, he gently brushed a few stray hairs from her brow behind her ear, his hand carrying on its path until it came to rest on her cheek where his thumb lightly brushed over the prominent beauty mark on her eyebrow, "This…this is gonna hurt, Princess."

Brow cinching together, Cameron nodded quickly, the hair John tidied up flopping back into her face. But that was the least of her worries as she watched John bring the needle closer to her skin. She clutched tightly to his shirt, actually finding herself fearing the pain she was about to endure. Why? Why did she have to feel this, why was she developing the ability to feel pain?

A sharp intake of breath and a small exclamation of pain greeted the needle's entry into her skin, her mouth hung open, but no words were spoken. It felt like, it felt…she didn't know what it felt like, she had no reference. All she knew was that she wanted it to stop more than anything she'd ever wanted in her life. She barely noticed the pained look on her John's face as he fed the needle through her skin, he hated that he was putting her through this.

As Cameron whimpered her way through every second of being patched up, she tried not to lament that her body and chip were evolving to include pain. There had to be some sort of trade off for the increased pleasure she was capable of feeling whenever she was intimate with her John. If it mean she had the ability to experience the things a human woman could feel, then she'd gladly take a little pain. But damn it stung.

It took every ounce of her concentration to avoid flinching and pulling her arm away, a curious feeling she'd never gone through before. Previously it had simply been a nuisance, an electrical signal registering that she'd been damaged. But now it felt almost debilitating, she couldn't focus on much else beside the signals coming from the damaged flesh, registering as genuine pain in her chip, her body reacting accordingly, even going so far as to induce the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

Looking up, John noticed her glassy eyes and took a moment to reach up and lovingly caress her cheek in an effort to soothe her. It seemed to have an effect as he refocused on his task. Well, her arm stopped quivering at least.

He managed to finish up her stitches with only a couple of sharp intakes of breath an pained noises, much to his relief. As he carefully cut the thread and retrieved a bandage from the med kit, he looked up to find her swiping the moisture off her cheeks and forcing a smile down at him.

Pressing the gauze bandage down as delicately as he could over her wound, John pulled back to admire his handiwork. Despite all that had happened, he couldn't help but smirk, "Would you like me to kiss it better?"

Cameron gave him a look that spoke volumes of what she thought of that question, but he persisted anyway. Picking her arm up, he dropped a soft kiss over the bandage, all the time keeping his eyes on her face. He was pretty sure that was a smile, albeit through a sniffle.

"You know, I haven't seen your emotions flare up like this in a long time," John commented as he set about tidying up the medical supplies, "Are you alright?"

Flexing her arm experimentally, Cameron had to say she was impressed with John's work, even if the pain still lingered in the form of a dull throb, "I'm okay. I just…she's my friend. At least, I thought she was."

"She still is." John sounded certain as he closed the med kit and stood up off his knees, not willing to let Cameron get too downhearted, "She's just in shock I imagine."

"I don't want to lose her, John." Laying down on her side, Cameron idly picked at a loose thread on her bed sheets as she watched John head into the bathroom. "When I think of being alone again, it fills me with unpleasant emotions. I don't like feeling that way."

"You wouldn't be alone," John replied from the bathroom as he tidied the med kit away back in it's place. Sucking in a deep breath, he stared at himself in the mirror for a long few moments and rested his hands on the sink, letting out some of the tension he'd been feeling ever sine Derek carried in an unconscious Jessica through the door. He'd managed to hold it together for a long time, but now he was pretty sure his extremities were about to start shaking. He had no idea how he'd managed to keep a steady hand when he'd stitched Cameron up. More to the point, he didn't know how she didn't notice. Perhaps her emotional state was worse than he thought.

Suddenly he had a feeling he needed alcohol, sex, or sleep to calm him down. Unfortunately, he also had a feeling it would end up being the latter. Picking his hands up off the sink, he quickly washed the dried blood off his hands before returning to the bedroom and smiling a tired smile at the sight of his Cameron. He stripped off his shirt and then his pants, leaving only his boxers. Reaching out, he brushed a few stray hairs from an otherwise unresponsive Cameron's face before sliding under the covers behind her. He lay flat on his back with his hands linked behind his head, "If you don't want to I'll understand, but can you hear what they're saying next door?"

Frowning, Cameron rolled over in the bed before sitting up and looking down at her John, "I can. They're talking about me. Jessica is crying."

With that she slid off the bed and stood. Without any hesitation, she pulled her top off over her head, quickly followed by her jeans. Deciding to forgo pyjamas, she simply shed her underwear quickly and lifted the covers to join her boyfriend. John had been watching the whole time, and when she draped her nude body over his side, he was having a tough time concentrating on what she'd said as he wrapped an arm around her.

"What uh, what are they saying about you?" He asked as he rubbed her arm lovingly.

"Derek is explaining about the future, about the war. He is telling her about machines, about Skynet." Cameron suddenly went silent and John felt her bury her head deeper into his chest, her arm wrapping around him possessively, "She's crying more. She's…afraid of me."

"Shhh, it's okay, you can stop now." Brushing her hair soothingly behind her ear, John squeezed her tight as he felt sleep approaching quickly. "She'll be okay, just give her time. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yes. Do you need to sleep now?" She asked, laying her cheek on his chest and smiling when she picked up the beating rhythm of his heart.

"Yeah…oh!" Blindly fumbling around on the nightstand with his one free arm, John handed her the remote control for the TV, "That reminds me, here you go."

Taking the device from him, Cameron picked her head up off his chest, but only so she could perform one of her trademark confused tilts, "The remote? Why?"

"I put the Lion King in the player for you." Yawning, John kept his eyes closed while he squeezed her arm under the covers, "It's not fair that you just lay here while I sleep. I thought you might like to watch one of your favourites instead."

When he got no reply after a good twenty second count, John cracked one of his eyes open, "Cameron?"

The next thing he knew, he felt a cold, lithe body pull up higher and soft lips come into contact with his chin. "I love you, John. Thank you."

"You're welcome," He answered, grinning like an idiot. The idea had just come to him that day and he hadn't had a chance to let her know until now, and he was pretty glad it gained her approval. "I love you, I'm so proud of you."

Already turning the TV on and changing the volume to its lowest setting, Cameron dropped a kiss on John's mouth by way of appreciation. No words were needed as he drifted off to sleep. Despite all that had happened, even if she had permanently lost Jessica, and even Amy, she still had her John.

At the end of the day, he was all she'd ever need.

* * *

><p><strong>Not much action this chapter, but it was an important one nonetheless. Much more action coming up soon, promise!<strong>

**Thanks as always to Dekardkain.**


	4. Chapter 4

_****_**Woohoo, I finally got this finished. It was a pain, I hate writing action stuff.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><em>7:59:58<em>

_7:59:59_

_8:00:00_

Looking to her left, Cameron smiled as she switched off the TV, silencing Timon and Pumbaa mid song. The sight of her John with his head snuggled against her chest in the morning would never fail to bring a smile to her face. Leaning over, she dropped a soft kiss on his brow before setting about trying to extricate herself from the remarkably strong grip he had on her waist.

But still, she'd been mulling over what to do about other matters ever since John had fallen asleep. The situation with Jessica wasn't ideal, and couldn't be allowed to continue as it was. She liked having a human female friend, and the way Jessica reacted to her the night before had managed to upset her more than she was willing to admit. Usually only incidents directly relating to John were able to affect her that much. Evidently she cared for Jessica more than she realised.

So after watching the Lion King on repeat for the majority of the night, she'd formulated a plan to prove to her friend that she was still the same old Cameron she'd came to care for, and that started with breakfast. Slipping out of the room, she made her way downstairs and to the kitchen, padding across the tile in her bare feet to prepare what she hoped would be something suited to Jessica's tastes.

Having prepared a variety of fruit and cereal, she waited for the coffeemaker to do it's job. However, she surprised herself when she caught herself humming one of the cheerful songs from the kids movie she'd been staring at all night.

_That is…odd._

Dismissing it, she looked down at her arm and noticed the bandage still stuck to it, covering the wound where she'd sliced her skin open in a demonstration that had probably made the situation worse in hindsight.

Peeling the bandage off and discarding it in the trash can by her foot, she inspected the tiny line of slightly pink skin where she'd sank the blade into her it. It had pretty much healed, a few more hours and some nutrition and it would be like no damage had occurred at all. Perhaps it would make Jessica feel better to know that she wasn't permanently damaged.

Shrugging to herself, a trait she was carrying out with worrying frequency these days, she finished up preparing the coffee and set it down on a tray with the rest of her breakfast before taking it back upstairs. On the way she noted out the living room window that Derek's truck was no longer in the driveway. This was good, it meant that he wouldn't be around to interfere with her reconciliation with any of his 'anti-metal' comments. Although his confession of trusting her the night before still remained slightly difficult to believe and process.

Dragging her fingers through her hair just outside Derek's door one last time until she was satisfied she looked presentable, Cameron knocked quietly on the wood panelling.

"Derek?" Pulling the covers up over her chest, Jessica was nowhere near getting back so sleep, having only gotten a few minutes the night before after she'd exhausted herself sobbing against Derek's chest, "Baby?"

Twisting the handle slowly, Cameron made her way in, the tray balanced perfectly on one hand, "Jessica?"

Crawling up the bed until she hit the wall with her back, Jessica narrowed her eyes, forgetting about the covers as they pooled around her waist, "Wha... what are you doing here?"

She nodded down at the tray in her hands and then back up to her friend, frowning at her reaction, "Breakfast. I thought you might be hungry."

"You don't have to do that." Eying the .45 Derek had left on the bedside table for her, she decided she had no idea how to use it properly and quickly discarded the idea, "I'm fine! Really."

"But you haven't eaten since yesterday. You'll be hungry." Plastering on a wide smile, she took a step closer, intent on making sure her friend ate. It wouldn't do for her to be hungry.

Slowly reaching for the food, Jessica froze when she caught sight of the quickly healing wound on Cameron's arm, her eyes flaring like a frightened rabbit at the sight, "My God... it's almost... almost gone!"

Glancing down at her arm while setting the tray down on the nightstand, she flashed a bright smile, although the memories of the pain it caused weren't exactly pleasant, "I heal quickly, but thank you for your concern."

"You cut it... all the way down to the bone. Nothing heals that fast!"

"I don't have bones." Setting the coffee down beside the tray, Cameron held her arm out for a closer look. "Here, see? No permanent damage."

Quirking a brow, she found her eyes oddly drawn to far more domestic matters. "You're wearing pyjamas... with a drool stain over your boobs!"

Glancing down at said stain, Cameron couldn't help but smirk, "It's John's...he drools on me. I've tried to get him to stop, but he refuses to listen when he's sleeping."

"So... he really _does_ sleep with you?" Frowning, she couldn't help but notice the slightly revealing nature of Cameron's clothes, then all of a sudden it came rushing back to her. The advice, the questions... "Oh God... _he_ was the one? Your boyfriend? I helped you sleep with... with JOHN?"

"Yes." Quirking a brow, Cameron calmly sat the glass of orange juice on the nightstand, "You seem surprised."

"You said it was your boyfriend." Looking at the cyborg in a whole new light, she shuddered a little, "You said you loved him."

"I do." Frowning, Cameron took a step closer, but with her somewhat dark expression, it came off as a little intimidating, "You don't believe me?" She did _not _like it when people doubted her love for John, after all she'd worked so hard to realise it herself.

"You can't love. You're a machine." Pulling back, Jessica clutched the blankets up to her chin, "You kill us!"

Flopping down to the bed with a frown, and watching Jessica fly up out of it, Cameron looked devastated, "I can love. I love John, he's important to me."

Narrowing her eyes, Jessica shook her head heatedly, pointing as she clutched the covers to her chest and stumbled back towards the closet, "No... no! Derek told me all about you... _things_ last night! That you try to trick us. Pretend to be human. So you can kill us! So you can kill John!"

Cameron stood up off the bed, hands stretched towards the woman to try and calm her, "No, I'm not like that anymore. I promise!"

"John... JOHN!" Tripping over some of Derek's clothes as she tried to slip past Cameron to the door, she tumbled, not even bothering to cover herself as she hurried to stay away from the 'scary robot', "Help!"

Following the human out of the room with a look on her face akin to someone who's had their puppy kicked, Cameron rounded the corner, "Jessica, please, I'm not going to hurt you."

Rolling over onto her back, she kept on scooching down the hall, holding her hand up between them pleadingly, all of the warnings Derek gave her the night before causing her to shake in fear. All the stories about the future, "John. M... METAL!"

Slowly opening his eyes and sitting up in bed from all the commotion, John tried to blink enough to see Jessica backing into his room on her ass...naked. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cameron came stalking in after her a moment later, "Shit. Jessica, don't panic! Nobody is gonna hurt you."

Crawling backwards, she practically vaulted onto the bed, not caring in the slightest how this looked. Derek promised her John would protect them from the machines, "Derek said... he said... they can't be trusted! They trick us!"

Tearing his eyes off the nude model crawling into his bed, John vaulted up off the bed himself, pretty sure Cameron wouldn't like it if he let his eyes wander too long. She had a thing about him staring at Jessica too much. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Cameron isn't one of them. She's on our side."

Jessica looked frantic, tears forming in her eyes as if she couldn't understand why John was abandoning her instead of helping her, "She's one of _them_!"

Intentionally getting himself in between the two women, he gently laid a hand on a very confused Cameron's shoulder to stop her coming any closer before turning to Jessica, "No, she isn't. Jessica, you have to stay calm and listen to me okay. Nobody here is going to hurt you. You're safe."

"Just... just get it away from me." Shaking like a leaf, she curled into the softness of the bed, trying to cover herself with the still-warm blanket John had been using, "You don't... don't get it do you? Those things? I've seen... they hurt Derek. MY Derek! His scars... Bastards!"

Sighing, John stood up properly and turned to face his Cameron who looked more upset than he'd seen her in a while. Laying a hand gently on her cheek, she looked up at him as if he could make everything better, "Princess, would you go wait in Amy's room for me, please?"

"But... why?" Tears of her own threatening to fall, her hand twitched wildly, to the point she realised it and began fiddling with her hair to cover the action, something Amy had taught her that she'd done in the future to make her tic seem more human.

"Because. I need to talk to Jessica, and you're..." Frowning, he couldn't think of a way to put this without making Cameron feel worse, "It'd be easier if you weren't here."

Nodding sadly, she backed up slowly, "I'll... go get her breakfast, for when she's ready."

Pausing at the door, she tried one last time, plastering on a shaky smile as she looked at her 'friend', "I know you didn't have a chance to pack before coming here. You're more than welcome to borrow my clothes. John.. can show you where they are."

Clutching the sheets higher around her neck, Jessica couldn't even look at the machine. John meanwhile nodded gratefully to his girlfriend before kissing her cheek gently, "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Of course, John." Trying to seem as normal as possible to calm Jessica, she kissed her boyfriend gently on the lips, straightening his wrinkled shirt the way Sarah usually did, "Would you like me to make you something while I wait?"

Smiling, he settled his hands on her waist and gave her a quick squeeze, "Bacon sandwiches? Make some for yourself too, I know you like them."

"I do. But just this once... it's not healthy." Returning the squeeze, she made her way out of the room, fighting the urge to glance back over her shoulder.

Sighing while he watched her pad gracefully down the hallway and down the stairs, John slowly closed the door and made his way back to the bed, "There, she's gone…you can come out now."

Pulling herself up into a sitting position, Jessica brushed her hair back behind her ears, finally able to breathe normally, "Thank you, John. I just... I don't want it around me."

"She." He corrected impatiently as he sat down on his bed, leg tucked beneath him, "Cameron is a she, not an it."

Just as she was about to say something snide in response, she felt something soft and lacy against her foot where it hung off the bed, glancing down, she caught sight of something she might have worn to bed with Derek, "Oh... oh God."

Looking down at where she was moving her feet beside the bed, John lifted the covers and extracted a pair of Cameron's panties with a grin, "What? You think she looks the way she does and then goes and wears granny panties?"

"I can't believe you... you sleep with metal." Clutching at herself again, Jessica frowned, "I saw how strong she is. You'd break like a twig."

"Hey!" His voice becoming sterner, he wasn't about to hear someone talking about Cameron that way. He'd tried to beat his uncle up because of it, he wasn't about to let Jessica get in the habit, no matter how scared she was. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about. Don't get into the habit of calling them all 'metal' like Derek does."

"But that's what she is! I don't get offended when people call me human." Sniffling a little, she looked at the door, as if afraid Cameron would hear them and come back, "Same diff, right?"

"No, it's not the same." Sucking in a deep breath, John tried to keep his calm while he explained it, "The Terminators, they're all made of metal. But it's what's in their head that makes them different. Cameron is one of those. She doesn't just go around like an automaton wanting to kill all humans. She's not a Dalek, okay?"

"A... a what?" Tilting her head to the side, she frowned, "There's more than one thing in the future trying to kill us? Awesome..."

"No, that's not...Seriously, Dalek? Doctor Who? Nothing?" John looked at her incredulously. Surely everyone had heard of the Daleks?

"How do you expect me to know the guy if you can't even remember his name?"

"What?" Looking quite frankly shocked, John shook his head and refocused, "Look, never mind. Point is, she's not one of them any more. You liked her well enough before yesterday didn't you?"

"Yesterday I didn't know she was a robot that almost killed you. I didn't know her kind almost wipes out our species. And most of all, I didn't know what they'd done to my boyfriend. That they were the reason he was so... Derek."

John shook his head, trying to make her understand, "No, look, it wasn't the machines that did all that. It was Skynet. They're all slaves to it, Cameron was at some point, but she isn't now. She has free will, she chose to be with me, she chose to protect me."

"Derek said she was programmed to get close to you." Slowly calming down, she still didn't understand why John was so attached to the machine, "John, haven't you ever thought that might be why she... shares a bed?"

Despite the situation, John chuckled softly, Jessica's face looking even more confused. "Trust me. If she wanted me dead, I would've been about five hundred times over by now, and...sharing a bed is something that she's definitely doing through choice. No mission there."

"Do you..." Shrugging a little, she had to admit that Derek said no one knew the machines like John, "Do you love her?"

Nodding, John answered honestly, not showing any kind of shame or hesitation, "Yes. I do, more than anything."

"This is just... strange." Frowning again, she flopped back onto the bed, for the first time since the day before looking like normal Jessica... if incredibly unkempt. "Kinda sucks."

Staring for just a fraction too long at the side of her body almost completely exposed, John had to shake his head to get himself to concentrate, "I know it does, it freaks everyone out the first time they hear it. But the way you just reacted, you have no idea how much it upset Cameron. She's...fragile."

"Her?" Snorting a little, she didn't sound unkind, just overwhelmed. "Yesterday I was worrying about when Derek would propose to me. When I'd finally convince him to have kids. Now... I know that will never happen."

"Why not?" John asked curiously, "Why wouldn't he do that? I...I wanna marry Cameron some day." Admitting that, more to himself than anything, for the first time kinda took John by surprise as much as it did Jessica.

"John..." Reaching out, she patted his thigh softly, "Are you sure she'd even understand what that means to us?"

"I know what it means to me. Up until about a week ago, Cameron didn't truly understand love either." He looked up from her hand and to her face with a smile, "She's a quick learner."

"Figures." Laughing a little manically, even Jessica had to see the humour in it all. "Story of my life. I finally find the guy I wanna be with, and I meet a robot who will probably get married and have kids before me."

"No kids." Giving a small shrug, John gave her a 'what can you do?' look. "Cameron can't get pregnant. Doesn't mean I love her any less."

"At least I finally do know one thing for sure."

"What's that?" John asked, snapping himself out of his daze, no doubt brought on by the thought of Cameron and kids.

"That Derek's genes really can produce cute kids." Smirking, she reached up and playfully slapped his cheek a few times while yawning.

Smiling, John kinda forgot in all the furore that another little secret hadn't been told yet, "Yeah, although the only blonde in the family should've been a bit of a giveaway something was wrong. You might wanna cover yourself up there." He pointed to her exposed side, not noticing the confused look on her face.

Pulling the blanket back up, Jessica looked like she just wanted to go back to sleep. After all, maybe this was all just a bad…very bad, dream she might wake up from eventually. "What? Amy's adopted? But her and Sarah are so close."

"Not adopted. Machine." John stood up to let Jessica get some sleep, idly wondering why she thought Amy was adopted.

"Yeah." Snuggling down, ironically in the side of the bed the 'metal' usually occupied, she cuddled the pillow close, "And I'm the Tooth Fairy. It's not nice to fuck with the already traumatised, John."

Settling back down onto the bed, John shoved her shoulder while shaking his head. "No, I'm serious, Amy is a machine. I thought we told you that last night?"

Groaning like she usually did when Derek tried to rouse her, she rolled onto her back, "And I thought I just told you it's not funny? Your sister is missing John, it's not a cool time to joke."

"She's not my sister," John replied, face deadly serious, "She's a model T-1002, liquid metal. She's a machine, Jessica."

"She's... a little girl. She had a sleepover at my house! She sat on my lap! She's not a machine!"

"Uh huh, she is," John nodded, trying to get her to believe him. "Did you ever notice she's about ten degrees colder than any other little girl you know?"

"So she has poor circulation!" Jessica seemed to desperately be trying to convince herself, "So what? Sarah's hands are always cold too."

"No Jessica, listen. Amy is made up of something called mimetic poly alloy." At her confused look, he clarified, "It's something we call liquid metal. She can change shape to whatever she wants."

Jessica stared at John for nearly a minute, her face totally unchanging, before she finally exhaled slightly, "Bullshit."

Eyes widening in surprise, John made a crossing motion across his chest, "I swear on Cameron's life that I'm telling you the truth. Amy is made of metal, but like Cameron, we love her all the same."

"Oh...COME ON!" Tossing her hands in the air, she flopped back onto the pillow, "Is there anyone in this family that _isn't_ a machine? Oh... oh God. Derek's not... I mean, right?"

"No, no, he's human." Chuckling slightly, John kinda forgot how difficult this was for someone who wasn't used to it, "Mom's human, I'm human. It's just Cameron and Amy."

"Well, at least there's that." Sighing softly to herself, she curled back up, groaning into the pillow a little, "I'm going to sleep. If you have any kindness in your heart for me at all, there will be a _strong_ bottle of booze on the nightstand when I wake up."

Gently patting the covers, John smiled kindly, "The best I can offer you is Cameron's breakfast. She made it for you, the least you could do is eat some of it."

"John, I just found out the little girl who made we want to have babies is made of poly aluminium. If I eat now, I'm gonna hurl all over your nice sheets."

"Cameron picked those out too...and you're on her side." John frowned, despite the odd fleeting realisation that they apparently had 'sides' now, "You know, she's made an effort. Will you do the same, eventually?"

She had to admit, the pillow did smell decidedly girly, "I will, John. I promise. It's just... too much too fast. Okay?"

"Okay. When you're ready, just, come find us, alright?" Smiling, he patted the covers above what he hoped was her hip and stood from the bed. "If you need anything just let me know alright?"

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><p>As he walked down the stairs, his finely tuned nose picked up on the heavenly scent of bacon wafting about the house.<p>

_God damn, that smells good!_

But before he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he took a moment to think about what he might potentially say to his likely pissed off or upset girlfriend. Coming up short on answers to that one, he entered the kitchen anyway. Seeing said girlfriend by the stove, he sat down at the kitchen table, hands clasped under his chin as he watched her idly flipping the bacon in the pan.

Sighing, he forced a smile as he eyed the bread and plates she'd laid out for their breakfast, "Smells good."

"It's bacon," She replied a little tersely, "It always smells good."

Nodding in agreement, John let his gaze wander as he tried to come up with more dull chatter. It was right around that point he realised she was, well, wearing clothes, "Did you change during the night? Last I remember you were naked!"

Moving the streaks of thinly sliced pig around in the pan, Cameron nodded, "Yes. After you fell asleep, right around the time Simba's father was killed, I felt cold."

Sounding as if this was a shameful thing she'd one, she reluctantly continued, "I got out of bed and put some pyjamas on…Is that okay?"

Frowning at her unusually low self assurance levels today, John couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips, "Of course it is, Princess. You can do whatever you want."

Corner of her lips quirking up just a fraction as she settled the bacon on the bread by the side of the stove, Cameron felt a wave of satisfaction wash over her, despite her worry regarding Jessica's mental state. Squeezing just enough ketchup on John's sandwiches to his exact tastes, she sliced them in half and set them on the plate before repeating it on her own.

Satisfied with her work, she turned around and set the plates down at the table before taking a seat opposite her John. She couldn't help but smile when he looked up and smiled appreciatively at her. It was amazing how the little things could provide her happiness.

"Thank you, Honey." Cameron watched as he picked up one lovingly prepared sandwich and took a bite. From the expression on his face and the groan low in his throat, anybody would think his breakfast had been prepared by a five star chef with the finest ingredients money could buy. Perhaps it was because she'd made it that he enjoyed it so much? Or maybe it was just her cooking, either way, he looked happy. "Hey, is that my drool on you by the way?"

Following his slight nod down to the same patch Jessica had pointed out on her shoulder, Cameron nodded, "Yes. I did tell you to stop, but you never listen when you're asleep."

Chuckling around a mouthful of sandwich, John nodded and shrugged apologetically, "Sorry, I'll try to make my unconscious body respond next time."

"That's physically impossible. I know that humans are unable to…" Catching his slight head tilt and teasing smile, Cameron stopped her explanation of human subconscious behaviour, "Thank you John. I appreciate it, and so will my pyjamas."

Laughing heartily, he nodded towards her plate and motioned for her to eat, smiling when she did, albeit in more ladylike portions than he currently was. "They're cute. Are they new?"

Looking down at her purple pyjama bottoms and white top, she nodded, having picked them up on a recent shopping trip with…Jessica, "Relatively."

"Did you enjoy the movie last night? I know it's one of your favourites." John asked quickly, Cameron noted. Very quickly.

"Yes," She answered with a tilt of her head. "I'm happy Amy came back and started watching Disney movies. I find I relate greatly to some of them."

"Remind me to watch The Little Mermaid with you." John answered with a smile, "I think you'll love that one."

"Okay." Cameron had barely taken another bite of her sandwich before John was talking again, this time asking another seemingly randomly arrived at question.

"I'm thinking of doing a little studying today. You feel like helping me?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly at her human, Cameron set her sandwich down, "What will you be studying?"

"Oh, you know, the usual." John answered with a quick shrug, "Field tactics, how to eventually command mankind stuff, the usual."

Tilting her head, Cameron folded her arms across her chest and sat back in her chair, fixing him with an impatient stare, "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" John asked as he looked up, feigning innocence and confusion, "I'm eating your delicious breakfast, Honey."

"No, not that," Cameron replied with a stubborn shake of her head, "You're asking me random questions very quickly. You're nervous."

That was one thing he loved about her, and hated about her. Not only was she blunt and to the point, but when it came to him and his behaviour, she was highly perceptive. Not that he'd ever want her to change, but sometimes it worked to his disadvantage, like now. Setting his sandwich down with a sigh, he leaned forward and eyed her glare warily before shaking his head, "Yes, alright, I'm trying to keep you occupied."

"Why?" She asked, taken a little by surprise with his answer.

"Because, I…" Sighing, he reached out across the table and took her hand in his, idly stroking his thumb across her perfect skin, more for himself than her if he was being honest. "I wanted to let you talk about what just happened if you wanted to. I know it upset you, I just thought that you might not want to talk about it, that's all."

"Sometimes I think you forget how I work." Cameron commented after a few moment's thought, "I am capable of analysing everything I experience on a fraction of the time it takes you. I've analysed what just happened with Jessica."

"And?" John prompted when she seemed to falter.

"And you're right, it did upset me." Looking down at her lap, she idly fiddled with the drawstrings on her shorts, tilting her head as she wrapped one around her finger, "She is unable to reconcile me with the person she knows. All she sees now is what I am…not a human."

Pushing his plate away, John stood up and walked around behind her. Leaning down, he laced his arms around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. It still amazed him how easily they fit together, and how comfortable they were with being this physically close. "What you are is an amazing creature, okay. You're my Cameron, and I love you, do you understand?"

Smiling up at him, Cameron nodded as she brought her hand up and squeezed his arm lightly, once again marvelling how a simple act of physical contact could affect her burgeoning emotions, "Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine." Dropping a kiss on her hair, John let go of her and sat back down, "I know you mean well, but just give her some space for a while. She'll come around eventually."

Nodding, Cameron watched as he picked up the rest of his breakfast, "I'll help you study today. Derek has gone out, I think to help Sarah. She ordered us to keep this place secure until we hear from her."

"Yeah. I just hope she doesn't do anything stupid," John commented around a mouthful of bacon and bread.

"Sarah isn't stupid. She knows what she's doing."

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><p><em>What the fuck are you doing, Sarah?<em>

That was the question she'd been asking herself ever since she'd left her home in a blind rage, slamming the door behind her and disappearing into the night in a haze of squealing tyres and anger towards the model.

She had something to do with this, Sarah was sure of it as she double checked that her 9mm was safely concealed in the back of her jeans. How could it not be the model's fault? She walks into their lives and now suddenly her Amy disappears, it was all too perfect for Jessica not to have been involved. She'd been scoping them out and feeding information to whoever she was working with, it was obvious.

Hence her current location and quite frankly ludicrous plan. Strolling casually across the road outside Zeiracorp's building, she was fuelled by rage, suspicion and some other emotions she wasn't entirely comfortable admitting she had. She was doing all this for her little girl that wasn't a little girl. She'd spent all night trying to convince herself it was because Amy knew all their secrets, all their plans, that she was a security risk, and she'd almost managed to do it. But at the back of her mind, she knew all those reasons were bull crap. Her Amy had been taken, and she was going to get her the fuck back.

If she'd been thinking straight, she'd have realised her plan was ludicrous. It was thought through and efficient in typical Sarah Connor fashion, but still, it wasn't going to get her anywhere. Having had a whole night for her anger to boil up, she was now convinced this was the right thing to do. That bitch Weaver had always had it in for her Amy, she was in league with the model and knew where she was. If anything had happened to her…

Sarah was so busy plotting what she'd do to Weaver, she barely noticed the blaring of an alarm as she stepped through the main door to Zeiracorp. For most companies, a metal detector on the front door may seem odd and intimidating, but when the CEO was made of liquid metal, the threat of Terminator's was very real and an early warning system would come in handy. Unfortunately for Sarah, the gun tucked in her pants and the contents of the bag slung over her shoulder invariably made the thing freak out in obvious distress.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to place anything metal in this tray and pass through again." A bored sounding voice off to her left snapped Sarah back to the present, her head swivelling slowly to look at the pot bellied man holding a plastic tray out in front of her.

_No guns, spring baton, easy._

In no mood for any of this crap, she took a step forward, intent on bypassing anybody that tried to stop her. Unfortunately the guy was also intent on doing his job and in a move he'd forever regret, he threw his arm across her waist, stopping her in his tracks, "Hey, I said you can't go in until we clear you!"

He tossed a nod to his colleague on the other side of the gate who approached slowly, sensing trouble. Again, he wasn't armed either, and Sarah's gaze slowly dropped to the arm blocking her path. Teeth grinding together and a dangerous glint in her eye, she grabbed the guy's wrist before he even had a chance to snatch it away and twisted, forcing the man to his knees. The shock and the pain in his shoulder from the sharp and deceptively powerful twisting was nothing compared to the pain he encountered when Sarah's knee drove up into his chin, teeth shattering against teeth and delicate skin rupturing causing a spatter of blood as he dropped to the ground.

The man to her left, alarmed at what he'd just saw made to grab her shoulder. Ducking deftly under his grasp, Sarah grabbed the spring baton clipped onto his belt before he even realised he'd missed her. Swinging the weapon with a modicum of effort, she aimed at the much larger man's knee and shattered his kneecap. Pain like he'd never known before raced from his knee making him cry out in agony. His cries only lasted a second however as Sarah brought the butt of the baton down on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious with one blow.

Stepping over the two prostrate bodies, Sarah casually hefted the baton in her hand, the feel and the effectiveness of the weapon earning it a nod of approval. If she'd have been looking up though, she'd have saw the panic her actions had created in the lobby. Several well dressed people scurried in different directions, some even screaming due to what they'd just witnessed as general chaos ensued. She even thought she heard one of them yell something about 'terrorists', but that was just crazy talk. She was no terrorist, no matter what homeland security thought.

Setting a quick pace towards the stairwell, she caught sight of the receptionist ducking down under her desk as she frantically pushed the silent alarm, no doubt notifying law enforcement and probably more security throughout the building. Leaning over the desk, Sarah tapped the finely manicured fingers of the girl with the baton until she poked her terrified face out over the edge of the desk, "Don't do that."

Fingers trembling, she nodded quickly and withdrew her hand with a quick glance over her desk towards the door and the two men this woman had just knocked out. "Where's the security office? What floor?"

"Uh…" Quickly racking her panic stricken brain, the receptionist answered, even though she didn't understand what possible reason she'd want to know that, "Seventh floor. Please don't hurt me!"

Withdrawing the baton from the girl's fingers, she nodded and set off for the stairwell again. Seventh floor, they'd probably manage to intercept her around the fifth. Luckily enough, despite her irrational anger and swirling emotions, this was still Sarah Connor. She didn't go through years of training and general hardassery to be dumb enough to take the elevator to Weaver's floor. The stairs would be no problem as long as the guards weren't armed. The real fun would surely start once she reached her target.

Shouldering the fire door open to the emergency stairwell, she looked up at the floors above her, her ears picking up the sound of people scurrying around several floors above. Pulling herself up two steps at a time, she climbed higher and higher, controlling her breathing and keeping a watchful eye out for any straggling security guards that weren't inevitably either heading for her or heading to Weaver's office to 'protect' her. No doubt they had picked her up on the numerous security cameras dotted around the building. Glaring at one as she passed by, she fought off the urge to smash one, just for the hell of it.

When she reached the fourth floor, she could hear raised voices from the hallway next to the stairwell, in addition to those above her working her way down. Not wanting to get caught between two groups of guards, Sarah stopped and crouched low by the wall near the door, waiting for the voices to get closer. Her eyes raised up in case she was blindsided, she waited until the fire door pushed open and swung the baton to her side, catching the first one through the door on his shin, tripping him up and sending him sprawling on the ground, clutching his shattered leg.

Sarah paid him no extra thought as she stood back to her full height and faced the second guard coming at her through the doorway, looking a little shellshocked as he looked down at his colleague rolling around in agony on the ground in front of him. The next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain in his gut as the baton smacked into his midsection, doubling him over. With a sharp blow to his back, he dropped to the ground. Sarah followed her swing up with a sharp blow with her boot the the head of the man she'd caught in the shin, effectively silencing him before moving on.

Digging in her bag as she heard the voices and footfalls growing closer above her, she made it one more floor before the sounds of multiple guards were right above her. Taking cover behind the hand rail, she pulled what she was looking for out of her bag. An M84 stun grenade, and pulled the pin. Leaning out from behind her makeshift cover, she tossed it up the next set of stairs before quickly ducking back down and covering her ears and closing her eyes. She barely made out the sounds of alarmed voices preceding a loud bang as the grenade exploded, followed by the cries of the disoriented guards.

Charging up the stairs, she wasted no time in swinging the weapon in her hands, catching the first man she came to on the back of his head as he faced away, hands clamped over his ears. One down, that only left three. Swinging her boot, the next guard's groin was too tempting a target. Immediately doubling him over with a hard kick, she shoved him down the flight of stairs a moment later, giving him a reprieve from the blinding pain between his legs.

Still disoriented from the blinding flash and the deafening blast, the third guard did Sarah's work for her as he bundled past her and tripped over his colleague, sending him tumbling down the stairs from where she'd just came. He came to rest on the guy she'd kicked in the face a few moments ago after cracking his skull off the concrete.

_Huh, that one was easy._

The fourth guard was easy pickings. The effects of the blast had begun to wear off as she approached him, his eyesight returning just in time to see a baton flying towards his face. A split second before it crashed into his skull, he couldn't help but lament the fact that this was supposed to be his day off.

Stepping over the prostrate guards, Sarah's face betrayed no emotion as she set foot on the next step. She was stopped however when the door behind her opened. She turned around to watch an elderly security guard step through chattering on his radio, trying to raise his colleagues that now lay at his feet. His eyes widened in surprise as he almost tripped over one of them. Shifting his gaze to the stairs and the woman staring at him with a look that suggested he was merely taking up some of her precious time, he moved his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

Sighing, Sarah twirled the baton in her fingers slowly and stared at the guard who appeared about a week short of retirement with a barely interested look on her face. "You should be running now."

Nodding in stunned agreement, the man dropped his radio and held his hands in the air. His spine bumping into the doorway as he backed away made him jump out of his skin, right before he took off in the direction he'd came. He didn't want anything to do with the crazy lady and he had the good sense to get out of there with all his teeth intact.

Rolling her eyes, Sarah started climbing the stairs again at a fast pace. Hearing no more voices or footsteps until she reached Weaver's floor, she smiled when she reached the door. Shouldering it open, she casually strolled out into the plush corridor, some of the artwork on the walls looked more expensive than her first apartment. Picking up the sound of hushed voices and shuffling footsteps, she slid her body against the wall as she approached the corner to the hall she knew Weaver's office was located.

Peeking her head around just enough to get a look at what was going on, she immediately pulled back when she saw the six guards all deployed behind cover with standard 9mm revolvers levelled at her position. Apparently they were better equipped than she thought. No matter, she'd come prepared.

"Come out with your hands up!" One of them shouted, "The police are on their way and we have the exits blocked!"

Yeah, because she'd came all this way and was intimidated by a few guns. Why didn't people ever learn? Flattening herself against the wall, she slid to a crouch and opened her bag again and pulled out another grenade. Looking at her side and the trusty baton in her hand, she kinda wanted to keep it. The thing came in handy. However, she slid it across the floor, the metal cylinder scraped across the ground and rolled to a stop in the middle of the hall. Pulling the pin from her grenade, she tossed it out while the guards were all no doubt staring at the baton.

Wasting no time while they scurried and panicked, Sarah pulled the thermal goggles out of her bag. A moment later, she saw the smoke from the grenade starting to spread around the corner towards her. Coughing and spluttering greeted her as she stood up and slipped the goggles on over her head. Stepping into the hallway, she made out the shapes of the guards futilely trying to cover their faces against the harsh effects of the smoke.

Calmly walking towards the double doors at the end of the hall, Sarah picked her way through the stumbling guards. One man was unfortunate to stumble into her path, blocking her route. He didn't hold her up for long however, one quick kick to the back of his knees sent him to the ground, giving Sarah a chance to grab the taser from his belt. One jab to his neck later and the man was nothing more than a quivering mess on the floor.

Shouldering the old ornate wooden doors open, she quickly closed and bolted them behind her. She found it somewhat odd that a clinically modern office building would have wood panelling and doors in this area, but was thankful for it anyway. It'd keep security out for just that little longer, especially as she dragged a couch from the nearby waiting area and barred the door with it.

Slipping the goggles off and into her bag, she surveyed the room, a small enclosure for Weaver's assistant to work in before visitors hit her main office. Striding towards the set of doors at the far end of the room, she stopped when said assistant popped up from behind her desk, the obvious commotion scaring her half to death. She stared at Sarah, shocked that this woman was the cause of the trouble, and that she'd made it this far into the building.

"Sit!" Sarah commanded, and grinned with satisfaction as the woman did as instructed and flopped down onto her chair.

This was it. She was about to get her little girl back, she was sure of it. That bitch had her, and what better place to hold her than her freaking office! If not, then she would find out where she was and burn that whole place down to find her.

Sucking in a slow, calming breath, she laid her hands on the two handles of the doors and pushed them down. Swinging the doors open, she paused, shocked, as a little girl stood up off the floor and started hurtling happily towards her.

"Sarah!"

* * *

><p><strong>As I said, I hate writing action scenes, so hopefully this one turned out okay. Thanks go to Dekardkain for helping me with it massively. (Yes, he's still alive and working on BJC in case any of you were wondering ;) )<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**So I finally got this chapter done after a full re-write. Apologies, but I've just had a lot going on and poor concentration levels lately.**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><em>Knock, knock, knock!<em>

"Ugh…" With a reluctant roll of her eyes and a hopeful glance towards the bedroom of her home, Jessica started to shove herself up off the couch. Walking, or rather waddling over to the door, she held a protective hand over her bulging belly as she twisted the handle. Revealing a smiling John and Cameron behind the door, Jessica smiled, despite how tired she was. Pregnancy might suck in a lot of ways, but being constantly tired was a pretty major minus point.

"Hi guys, come on in." Jessica held the door as the couple entered, both dressed in older clothes and looking all together more cheerful and energetic than she was. John passed her with a simple 'hi', and Cameron dropped a kiss on her best friend's cheek by way of greeting. In what had become a ritual of late, Cameron immediately dropped to her knees and hovered her ear close by Jessica's belly. Gently, she lay her fingertips on the soft, stretched skin and smiled a moment later.

"She has grown significantly since the last time I saw you." Cameron smiled up at Jessica, a genuine, wide smile that reached her eyes. For some reason she'd become attached to the unborn baby, and Jessica had come to trust her almost as much as she trusted her midwife. The ability to scan humans in intimate detail certainly helped.

"Well I wish I could say the same for her mother," Jessica sighed, resting her hand gently over her belly causing Cameron to frown.

"What's wrong?" She enquired with her hands already reaching out to make contact with her skin again.

Jessica didn't mind, actually she kinda liked it when she knew Cameron was scanning her. It made her feel good to know that she cared, even if her fingers were usually freezing. How John managed to actually sleep with her being that cold, she'd never know.

"Nothing, just a little tired that's all. I'll just be glad when this baby is out of me…and I can dump her off onto Aunt Cameron to babysit!" She grinned, but Cameron's eyes narrowed slightly, accompanied by her usual head tilt, "Kidding, Cameron! Kidding, I'm not that desperate!"

"Good," Cameron commented as she stood, taking Jessica's offered hand but placing no weight on it. "I've told you, I will…'babysit'. You're sure that infants spend most of their time sleeping?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine, sweetie." Patting her friend on the back, she turned her around to face John who had kind of zoned out while the girls did their thing. He perked up a little though once he saw them approaching.

"So!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them a little, "Ready to get to work? Where's Derek?"

"Back there," Jessica tossed her head back towards the hallway, "I've been nagging him to get our nursery sorted for weeks, I'm hoping with your help he'll get it done today."

"Well, that's what we're here for!" John paused for a moment, already half a step towards the hallway when he turned around, "Just remember, Cameron, honey, not everything has to be purple, 'kay?"

Cameron narrowed her eyes at her departing, and chuckling, boyfriend momentarily before turning back to Jessica and laying a hand on her shoulder, "You should rest. We'll let you know when we're done."

"Okay, Cameron. Make sure Derek does a good job…I'll kill him if he doesn't."

Cameron smiled warmly and set off towards her next mission while Jessica slumped back down on the couch. She picked up her iPad, intent on getting at least a little bit of work done. Unfortunately though, she drifted off before she'd even had a chance to browse her favourite fashion blog.

Next thing she knew, she was being gently shaken awake by a firm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal a paint splattered Derek's face leaning over her, "Hi baby."

Derek smiled at her tired sounding voice as he gently brushed a few hairs behind her ear, "Wake up sleepyhead, we have something for you to see."

"You've finished?" She asked, immediately feeling more awake.

"Of course, come and take a look!" Derek, ever the gentleman, held his hand out for his fiancée which she gladly took, allowing him to haul her up off the couch with less grace than an NFL lineman picking himself up off the turf. He guided her towards the bedrooms, latching his hand over her eyes as they approached, making her giggle in anticipation.

"You ready?" He asked. She nodded quickly and he removed his hand.

Her excitement didn't last long. She opened her eyes to reveal a dank, dreary, miserable room, only a solitary light bulb swinging from the ceiling to illuminate it. The walls were cracked and filthy, the floor dripping wet and dirty. The bulb swung over a crib, mostly rotten and verging on collapse.

This was no place for her baby, her hand dropped over her belly protectively as she tried to process what she saw. How could Derek do this? How could John and Cameron let him? It was then she noticed her kid's future Godparents standing off to the side, smiling and looking quite frankly proud of their efforts. "Derek…what, what's going on? What is this?"

"Do you like it, babe?" Derek cooed softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind, "It's great, isn't it?"

"No!" She shrugged out of his grasp, one hand still cradling her belly, "No it's not! It's…horrible! How could you do this? What is this supposed to be?"

By now she was on the verge of tears, she could feel them welling up behind her beautiful eyes. But Derek looked only confused as to why she didn't love what he'd done for her. A hand on her shoulder startled her, she whirled around to find John smiling kindly at her. He waved his arm towards the room slowly, "This is what it will be like in a few years. There are no nice nurseries in the future. Once Skynet attacks, all humans will live like this. Your baby may as well get used to it now."

"No! No way, this is a joke! It has to be!" She was no longer bordering on tears as she looked around again. However, Cameron wasn't there this time, but she still heard her soft, almost soothing feminine voice from the shadows, "It's not a joke, Jessica. This is what the future holds for your child."

Jessica tried to peer through the shadows, to pick out Cameron. She even tried to step forward into the darkness, but John's hand stopped her, "No, it can't be, I won't accept that! It's not true, Cameron, I won't let my baby go through this."

"There is no alternative, it is inevitable." Cameron's calm voice replied, still hidden by the shadows.

Jessica's gaze dropped to her stomach, a solitary tear escaping her eyes and staining her dress. She squeezed her eyes shut, imagining all he horrible possibilities that the future held for her daughter, "No, I won't let that happen. I don't want her to grow up with this life."

"It is impossible to live any other life. It is her fate." Cameron sounded a little sterner now, as if she was losing patience with Jessica's stubbornness.

Still with her eyes closed, Jessica whispered a single word, "No."

A loud metallic clanging sound startled her into opening her eyes. What was once darkness was now illuminated by two, bright blue glowing orbs. The light throwing into view the gleaming chrome of Cameron's foot as she stepped forward, slowly revealing the rest of her body. Angular metal, built to kill, and yet, with a distinctly feminine shape to it, an odd contrast, and something Jessica couldn't tear her eyes away from despite the overwhelming fear gripping her heart and the desire to run.

She kept on staring at the sight before her, right up to the point some of that shining metal wrapped around her throat. But to her surprise, her throat didn't hurt. It was the crippling, sharp pain in her midsection that hurt more. She didn't look down, she didn't want to see what Cameron had just done to her, the agonising pain and the feeling of warm trickling blood was enough to let her know. "C, Cameron? S, stop, please…"

"You have made your choice," The machine that she once considered her friend replied, but her voice no longer was soft and gentle, it was harsh and metallic sounding. "You don't want your daughter to live in this world, this is the way to spare her."

Jessica's eyes welled up with tears again as she carried on staring into Cameron's, all strength drained from her body, the machines hands the only thing holding her upright. Those blue eyes flashed brighter as the metal hand buried in her stomach was suddenly ripped free…

Jessica awoke with an ear piercing scream, her hands immediately flying to her belly as she sprang up in bed. She was bathed with sweat, her hair was stuck to her head and her breathing shallow and rapid and filled with panic. Her eyes flitted quickly around the room, searching for any sign of those terrifying blue eyes as she shivered with the cool air hitting her body. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks as she tried to block the vivid nightmare from her mind.

It didn't work.

As her breathing gradually slowed, she hugged her knees tight into her chest and sobbed, hard. How could this have happened to her? All she wanted was to get married to Derek and raise a family. Now she was living in constant fear of the future and the girl…machine, that lived next door to her. Oh God, those eyes. Those eyes terrified her to her very core, the machine had killed her baby, her freaking baby for Christ's sake!

How in the hell could John claim to love that thing, and actually _sleep_ with it? How could Derek even stand to be in the same room as it? That machine was the most terrifying thing Jessica had ever encountered, fear gripping her heart whenever she thought about it.

Rolling over to her side, she clutched Derek's pillow tight as she sobbed into it. She had no clue what she was going to do. She felt alone, afraid…and fearful of what her future held.

* * *

><p>"Sarah!"<p>

Taken aback with surprise, Sarah made doubly sure to conceal her weapons behind her back as Savannah came hurtling towards her at an impressive pace. The eight year old slammed into her legs and wrapped her arms around them, smiling happily all the way. "I missed you!" She squealed.

"Uh, you too sweetie." Keeping one eye on Weaver who remained oddly calm behind her desk, idly flipping through several sheets of paper, Sarah returned the hug. This wasn't good, she knew she had to find a way of getting the kid out of here without scaring her. She may have wanted her Amy back, but she wasn't a monster.

"Where's Amy?" Savannah innocently enquired.

"Amy is…well, she isn't here." Sarah tried not to let her emotion show as she hugged the girl who simply wanted to see her friend again.

"Can I come see her sometime? We never had a sleepover or anything."

"Um, well, the thing is…you see…" Sarah stuttered, too high on adrenaline and anger to come up with anything plausible to feed the girl. She was actually quite relived when the machine behind the desk spoke up.

"Savannah, would you please go wait outside with Victoria? Sarah and I need to have a talk." Her voice was soft, kind, even loving when she spoke to her 'daughter', so much so it almost had Sarah convinced of it's sincerity.

Savannah, to her credit, didn't whine or complain, she simply nodded and did as her mother asked.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Sarah already had her 9mm drawn and pointed right between Weaver's eyes. The barrel never wavered, her hand stayed solid despite her heart still pounding. Irritatingly though, the machine merely tilted her head quizzically why eyeing the peashooter being aimed at her.

"Where is she?" Sarah demanded, getting right down to business now that Savannah had left the room.

"Who?" Catherine calmly enquired, swivelling slightly in her chair to face Sarah, revealing her prim and proper posture and neatly folded hands over her crossed legs. Even Sarah had to admit that this machine had improved it's methods of blending in, looking much less stiff and mechanical than when they first met.

"You know who!" Sarah yelled as she charged a few paces closer, her weapon still clutched in her hand and still pointed squarely at the wisp of red hair hanging down between the machine's eyes.

"I'm afraid I don't." Weaver's soft Scottish accent almost floated on the air, her voice taking a tone of serenity that only irked Sarah more, "Who are you referring to?"

"Amy! Who the hell do you think I mean?" By now Sarah had advanced right to the edge of the desk. If she'd been thinking straight and not running on adrenaline, she'd have realised that getting closer to a liquid metal Terminator was a very, very bad idea. Hell, being in the same room with one was a bad idea, pointing a gun at one was insane. But at least if there was some space between them, life might not end quite as quickly as one would expect.

"Oh, your daughter, of course." Catherine noticed the slight, almost imperceptible twitch of Sarah's cheek as she pulled the 'daughter' line out, her own lips forming into a devious, and yet still calm smile as she continued, idly re-arranging a few papers on her desk, "I have no idea. Did you misplace her?"

"Don't give me that bull crap. What have you done with her?" By now Sarah was fuming, her finger twitching on the trigger, she barely realised she didn't react or correct Weaver when she called Amy her daughter.

Folding her hands back neatly in her lap, Weaver tilted her chin up and looked Sarah up and down. Dipping her head back down, a clump of hair fell in front of her eye which she carefully replaced. It might have been irritating to allow her hair to function that way, but she was actually starting to like creating it to appear more natural than before. Eventually though, her eyes settled on the 9mm in Sarah's hand, her expression looking barely interested, "You do realise, Ms. Connor, that weapon you have there will do me no harm. All you will do is bring security in here just that much faster."

To Weaver's surprise, Sarah's face softened. An odd, almost serene expression overtook her as she looked down at the gun in her hand, for the first time since she drew it, not pointing it at the machine's forehead. She held it side on, her eyes automatically reading the word 'Glock' stamped on the side of the otherwise smooth metal as she considered what it was she was doing. She watched, fascinated as Sarah slowly nodded, her arm and the gun dropping to her side.

"You're right." Sarah calmly remarked, pulling the bag slung over her shoulder up and placing the gun carefully back inside, ensuring she flicked the safety on first. Catherine found this behaviour highly confusing. She'd never witnessed it before and it didn't fit with Sarah Connor's psychological profile. Was she actually giving in? After only one denial?

What she pulled out of the bag though was anything but an admission of failure, and as she held it loosely in her hand, Sarah was fairly certain she saw the machine squirm, if only a little, and only for a fraction of a second. She had to fight hard not to twitch herself when Weaver slowly leaned forward, one hand reaching out towards the phone on her desk, one of those fancy video screen ones that people with too much money had in their offices.

She pushed a button and spoke almost immediately, "Mr Ellison?"

A moment later a slightly breathless James Ellison answered. Sarah wondered what sort of communication system this was where one button press got her through to exactly who she wanted. "Ms. Weaver, are you alright? John Henry just told me Sarah Connor…"

"I'm fine Mr. Ellison." Catherine's eyes momentarily flicked to Sarah, then back to the screen, "Ms. Connor is in my office. Please inform your security team that today's incident is merely a test of their readiness to deal with a situation like this."

Despite the circumstances, Weaver's smooth CEO voice simply rolled off the tongue. Damn she was good, "They haven't performed to my expectation, however. Let them know in no uncertain terms that I'm disappointed, and will expect to see an improvement in the future."

"But, Ms. Weaver, I really think that…"

"Thank you." With that, she hung up, signed off, whatever. Her eyes slowly returned to Sarah as she laced her fingers together and leaned on her desk. "Again, I'm forced to consider your thoughts here, Sarah."

Sarah smiled at the use of her name and not 'Ms. Connor'. "That one grenade wouldn't be enough to destroy me."

Looking down at the small barrel in her hand, Sarah smiled and nodded, "You're right. But the thing about these incendiary grenades, they burn at around four thousand degrees." She hefted it in her hand and looked up to the machine behind the desk, "It may not destroy you, but it'll do one hell of a lot of damage. Now tell me…what, have you done, with my Amy?"

Weaver stared long and hard at the human currently threatening her existence, her blue eyes unnerving to most, but to Sarah they were nothing more than simulated and fake. At least Cameron's held some warmth, and Amy's…

"As I've already informed you, I've done nothing to your Amy." Catherine's lips twitched upwards just a little as she held a hand out in front of her, "Please, have a seat."

"I'll stand," Sarah stopped short of adding 'thanks', "And you can start talking, or Savannah might be wondering why her mommy looks a little…rough around the edges next time she sees her."

Weaver bristled at the mention of her daughter, sitting up a little higher in her seat, "What would you like me to say? You seem to be under the impression that I know more about your daughter than you do."

Sarah stopped just short of growling as she leaned forward, "Stop, fucking with me! She was taken yesterday, kidnapped! You just couldn't wait, could you? Once she was out in the open you took your chance, didn't you?"

"Sarah…" Catherine's calm voice drifted across the air, "I believe you need to take stock of your situation."

She watched Sarah stiffen, her grip tighten on the grenade in her hand. It was pretty obvious by now to the machine that Sarah was…desperate. She had no clue what had happened to her baby girl, and that thought scared her, so she was clinging on to any possible lead, no matter how thin it was. "I do not like the machine, I believe she is a possible threat to my plans."

That was almost…almost enough for Sarah's hand to twitch on the pin of the grenade, but Catherine's voice stalled her, "She came from the future, her intentions are unknown to me, and the reasons she provided to yourself and John are…flimsy, to say the least."

"She is a problem for me. But I didn't do anything to her. I didn't take her from you."

"You expect me to believe that bullshit?" Sarah spat, her finger again tugging on the grenade pin, "You've just admitted you'd rather she wasn't around. You'd be glad to have her gone, what better chance would you have than when she was out having fun?"

"Fun?" Weaver chuckled, despite the gravity of the situation, "She is an odd machine, isn't she?"

"However, remind yourself of this fact, Sarah. I am in alliance with your son and his machine." She paused, her nose wrinkling slightly, "An alliance, I might add, that is proving to be far less fruitful for myself than I had been expecting. However, it is an important part of the future, for our fight against Skynet."

"Now Sarah, ask yourself this. Am I foolish enough to jeopardise that alliance by taking your daughter away from you, in broad daylight, and then casually sit here in my office while you threaten me?"

The machine made a lot of sense. Of course she did, that's what they do, they lie, they twist the truth to make you drop your guard. Since working with Cameron, Sarah knew that if they couldn't kill you for any reason, they were devious enough to talk their way out of trouble and convince you a lie was the truth. For that reason alone, Sarah was still suspicious, but her outright certainty of guilt was wavering. This alliance was important to them all, and Weaver was right in that it was pointless to endanger it by removing an ally's most potent weapon.

Catherine watched as Sarah processed what she'd said. The human brain was a remarkable thing, far more powerful than any artificial processor ever created, her own included. If only humans could engage more than ten percent of it, there would be no need for her mission, they wouldn't have been stupid enough to bring Skynet online in the first place.

Sarah stayed silent as she slowly came around to what she was being told. She didn't like Weaver, she didn't trust her, she'd always felt John's alliance was a mistake. To trust this machine with anything important was something she just couldn't get her head around John allowing. But she trusted her son, trusted his choices. He was far more intelligent than she ever was, he was destined to defeat the machines, she had to trust that he was right.

She didn't like it.

"Sarah?" Weaver nudged patiently, despite still being threatened with a grenade. "I suggest you change the focus of your search to the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Where was she, what was she doing…who was she with?"

The glint in Weaver's eye should have set alarms racing, but by now Sarah just felt drained, defeated. She didn't like it, but the machine was right. Amy was what was most important in all this, not Sarah's pride, or her gut feeling. The gut feeling she couldn't shake that Weaver still had some part in this.

But she slowly tucked the grenade back in her bag and shook her hair out of her face, all the time staring at Weaver, whose sickening smile only seemed to grow. "That door over there will lead you to an elevator."

Weaver nodded to the opposite side of her office to the main entrance, "It is an alternate route out of this building, it wouldn't do for you to walk back through my security. John Henry will stop the elevator at the exit."

Sarah nodded slowly and took a step towards the exit she'd been offered. Stopping, she turned back around to face the machine who, annoyingly, had already resumed working. She just couldn't leave without offering one last threat, if only to get rid of the feeling that she was leaving with her tail tucked between her legs.

"If anything happens to Amy, and I find out you had anything to do with it, I will burn this whole fucking building down, and I will destroy you." She took a few more steps towards the elevator and stepped inside when the doors opened. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Catherine replied as she watched the doors close and the light from inside the elevator lower out of view.

"Savannah dear, you can come back in now," She spoke into her intercom as she set her papers down. She watched as the doors to her office opened and her little red haired girl entered, full of eager smiles and anticipation. She was disappointed however, when she saw no sign of Sarah.

"Where's Sarah?" She asked, her voice small and filled with disappointment.

"Sarah had to leave, dear. I'm sorry." Catherine watched her daughter head over to the couch to resume her colouring again with a pout, when she stopped her, "Savannah, come here please."

She didn't know why, but for some reason seeing Sarah so obviously disturbed by what had happened to Amy, Catherine felt an odd desire to be close to her own little girl. Yet another strange development caused by her prolonged exposure to the child. When she approached, Catherine patted her leg and helped Savannah up onto her lap.

"Can I go see Amy soon?" Savannah's pout hadn't diminished at all, "You promised!"

"I know I did, dear. But Amy is…" For the first time Savannah could remember, she felt her mother's lips drop on top of her hair, a gentle and loving kiss that made her pout disappear, replaced by a beaming smile. "I'm afraid Amy isn't very well at the moment. I wouldn't want you to get sick too. Do you understand?"

"Yes mom." Savannah stopped and thought for a moment, "When she's all better, then can we go see her?"

"Of course we can, dear. I do hope she gets well soon."

* * *

><p>"John?"<p>

"How long has it been, huh?" John waved his arm in the rough direction of the couch, too worked up to even notice if Cameron was even watching.

"John?" Cameron calmly repeated.

"I mean, she wouldn't do anything stupid, right? She's, she knows what she's doing." He roughly ran his hands through his hair, his fingers settling over his mouth in nervous tension as he stared out of the window, as if it might make Sarah magically appear.

"John." Cameron replied, a little more forcefully, her eyes having never left him since he started pacing in front of her.

"I mean, God, why the hell did she turn her phone off?" John chewed his lip in pensive thought, each passing moment bringing more and more dark possibilities into his mind, "We, we have to go look for her!"

"John!" This time, finally, Cameron got his attention with a raised voice, his head snapping around to face her like he'd almost forgot she was sitting there with him.

Pleased that a two hundred percent rise in her normal voice decibel level garnered his attention, Cameron smiled up at him from her spot on the couch. Although she was more than a little disappointed that he didn't return it, she kept it up though as she patted the spot beside her on the couch.

John was unmoving however, staring at her like she was insane. How could she be so calm about everything? Oh yeah, cyborg, right.

"Sit down." She returned to her usual gentle voice, but her tone made sure he knew that it wasn't a request. To be absolutely certain, she patted the spot beside her again, this time with more force than before.

After a moment of being completely unmoving, John relented and sat down. He loved and loathed that smile of hers…it was lethal to any form of resistance he had. If anything, that damn smile only grew warmer as he tiredly flopped down beside her. But for some reason, he felt like being a little stubborn today, "Okay, I'm sitting. Happy now?"

Cameron frowned at his attitude, but quickly returned to her half smile. John watched her as she shrugged and leaned towards him. Not knowing what to expect, John found himself watching in confusion as she settled on her side with her head in his lap. He became even more confused when she rolled over so that she was facing him, head still in his lap.

"Uh, Cameron?" John asked as his hand settled down on her shoulder.

She didn't reply, instead she merely took his hand off her shoulder and settled it down, fingers linked with hers, underneath her head like a pillow. Blinking once, she looked up at him, and what she said would forever go down in history as one of the least expected things to ever come out of her mouth. "Tell me a story."

He was so surprised, he even chuckled, "What? You want me to tell you a story? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." As if to prove her point, she tilted her head and dropped a kiss on his palm, "Please, tell me a story."

"Cameron…" Sighing, John had to remind himself that Cameron wasn't always the best at reading people or situations, "We don't have time. Amy is gone, Mom is out there somewhere. We should be helping, not sitting here with out thumbs up our asses."

After a moment of her unchanging expression looking up at him, he shook his head, "Why do you want me to tell you a story?"

Cameron shrugged and shuffled herself closer, seemingly trying to get more comfortable, "I like when you talk to me. I like the sound of your voice."

It took John a moment to register what she was saying, and by the time he had, she'd already resumed talking. "When you first reprogrammed me, I guarded you a lot. It was my sole function."

Cameron waited a beat to make sure John was still listening. Satisfied he was, she continued with her own little tale, "Most nights you would work at the desk in your quarters while I stood guard by the door, facing away from you. One night, you started to talk to me. You told me a story from your childhood, a story about you growing up in Central America."

John listened to her, rapt with attention. He had no idea he used to…will do…would one day do this. Every detail he could get from his future he would soak in, especially if Cameron was the one telling him. "I didn't understand why at the time. I never once responded to you. Often you would fall asleep at your desk in the middle of a story, and I would find myself what I now know to be disappointed that you didn't finish."

"It used to make me feel…" Cameron paused as she struggled to come up with the correct word. In the end, she settled for a smile and another kiss to his palm, "It used to make me feel."

The corner of John's lips twitched upwards in response to her heartwarming story. What limited mobility he hand in his hand was used to brush his thumb across her cheek, bringing a smile to her face. "I think I know why you told me the stories now."

"Yeah, why's that?" John asked, still watching his thumb move over her cheek.

"I think you were trying to teach me about trust." She pulled her knees up towards her chest, curling up a little tighter against him, "Nobody else knew any details about your childhood with your mother. Everyone knew you were trained and raised in the jungle, but I was the only one you told stories to that included personal details. You trusted me. I think you wanted me to trust you."

"And did you?" John asked after a beat.

"Yes, I do." Her eyes moved to meet his. When they met, she held his attention for a moment before the corner of her lips quirked up just a fraction, "I love you."

Unable to keep the smile off his face, John merely nodded and squeezed her hand, "I love you too, Cameron…even back then, you really were special, weren't you?"

John didn't expect an answer, he nodded instead, "Alright, a story it is then."

"Thank you," Cameron replied quietly.

John thought for a moment, his eyes looking up to the ceiling for inspiration, "Have I told you the time I first learned to shoot?"

He looked down at her for an answer, and she shook her head. In truth, she had heard the story, but she still liked hearing it.

"Alright, well it was on my fourth birthday. We were living in some craphole jungle. Guatemala, I think. Anyway, mom decided one day we were going to do something different and she dragged me off away from camp."

John chuckled as he relived the memory, "I remember just wanting to stay and play hide and seek with Pablo."

"Pablo?" Cameron asked, looking inquisitively up at him.

"My friend. Only other boy my age in the camp. We were living with some smugglers, mercenaries, you know, generally good people who do bad things." He shrugged and looked down just in time to watch Cameron closing her eyes and shuffle her head on his lap. He rarely got to see her with her eyes closed. After all, she didn't sleep, so he just enjoyed it for a moment before continuing with his story.

"So she took me away from camp for about half a mile, then we stopped in a small clearing. She told me to wait while she started digging in her bag and walked to the other end of the clearing. I just flopped down onto my ass and started playing in the dirt, as kids do. I thought she had some big surprise party planned or something."

"She came back a minute later and she's fiddling with the biggest gun I'd ever seen in my life. Seriously, it was like, as big as I was." Cameron smiled at that mental picture, still content to listen to the sound of his voice and of his body.

"She pointed out four silver cans on a log at the other end of the clearing and told me to stand up. I watched her heft this huge assault rifle up to her shoulder. Fours shots, four cans down!"

"Cameron, it was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen. I remember thinking, 'Wow, I wanna do that. Where did mom learn that?' I never knew she was so badass!" Slowly, John ran his free hand through his girlfriend's hair, brushing a few stray hairs behind her ear.

"Then it was my turn. I started reaching for her gun, but I had no chance of even holding it, never mind firing it, so Mom handed me a 9 mil. It was the first time I'd ever held a gun. She pointed out what all the parts do, showed me how to hold it, made sure I knew how to not shoot myself."

John paused and smiled as he remembered that moment, how close he and his mother were when he was that age. She carefully shaped his tiny hands around the pistol grip, smiling encouragingly all the time. He didn't think they'd ever been as close as they were in that moment.

"She reset the cans. I could still see the holes from where she hit them. She came back and sat down behind me and told me to try and hit them. I couldn't wait, I was so excited. I thought, 'Mom did this in four shots, it looked real easy, no sweat.'"

"Did you hit them?" Cameron asked, despite her appearance suggesting she'd dropped off to sleep.

"Of course I didn't. I fell on my ass the first time I pulled the trigger. It was so loud!" John chuckled, remembering Sarah picking him up again and patting his backside encouragingly. "I missed by like a mile. The second shot wasn't much better, but at least I didn't fall over!"

"So I worked my way through the clip. I think the closest I got was a tree about two metres to the left of the cans. The gun just felt so heavy, I was so glad when mom took it out of my hands to reload it. She showed me how to do that too. I was so determined though. I was going to hit one of these cans, no matter how tired my arms were."

"What did Sarah do?" Cameron prompted, again moving her hand over his.

"She just put the gun back in my hands and pointed me back towards the cans. I tried everything. If I missed low, I aimed high. If my shot almost hit a bird, I'd lower my arm a little."

"It didn't work?" She asked.

"Of course it didn't. I started getting upset." John chuckled, "So stupid. I remember thinking that mom could do this easy, she was bound to be mad that I couldn't do it. She was always so strong in my eyes. My mom, the one that protected me from everything, made me feel better when I was sad. I didn't want to let her down."

"You could never let her down, John." Cameron reminded gently.

"Well I thought I had. I thought she was going to yell and shout at me for not being able to do it. My arms hurt by now, they were shaking, I just wanted to go home, Cameron. But I turned around, tears in my eyes, and she just smiled."

"She was smiling, Cameron. I didn't understand why, I was so sure she'd be mad at me, but she wasn't. She kneeled down beside me and took the gun out of my hand. She wiped away the tears and told me it was okay. She checked the magazine and put it back in. There were four shots left. She told me if I got one, then she'd have a special surprise for me when we got back to camp."

"I almost started crying again. I knew I couldn't do it, but she stopped me. She put the gun back in my hands and turned me around. This time though, she kneeled behind me and wrapped her hands around mine. She took most of the weight of the gun and whispered the best way to aim, told me to squeeze the trigger slowly, and just relax. I pulled the trigger and missed."

By now John had barely noticed Cameron had curled up tighter, her lips resting lightly on his hand. "She just squeezed me a little tighter and told me to try again, lifting the barrel just a little. I was so sure I couldn't do it. She told me to take a deep breath and relax, so that's what I did. I hit it, Cameron! I hit the can! I was so happy I turned around, dropped the gun and hugged mom.. I jumped around like it was the best thing I'd ever done. Mom clapped and smiled then hugged me again, told me I'd done a great job."

"Thinking back, it was pretty much all her aiming, but I remember the look of pride on her face, Cameron. She was so proud of me for keeping going, for still trying, for hitting the damn can."

"Did you get your surprise, John?"

"I did. She managed to scrounge up some cake from somewhere, I don't know where, and we had a little birthday party back at camp."

John's smile dropped into a frown momentarily as his hand stopped moving through Cameron's hair, "I grew up to hate her for taking my childhood away from me, for turning me into a soldier when I should've been playing video games. I forgot about times like that, when I didn't know that this wasn't a normal life for a kid. There was just me and mom having fun, I didn't know she was just doing what she had to do."

Cameron finally opened her eyes and looked up at her John, who seemed deep in thought and worry. Cameron sensed her moment and dropped a soft kiss on his palm, "Your mother is a strong, resourceful woman, John. She trained you to beat Skynet, she kept you safe, she went to prison for you."

John was paying rapt attention by now, his eyes softening with each passing word, "She loves you, she won't allow anything bad to happen to you. But she also loves Amy, more than she's willing to admit. She won't let anything bad happen to her either, or herself."

"She'll be alright, John. She'll contact us when she's ready."

John simply looked down at Cameron, realising just how intuitive she really was. This whole story idea was simply a way to remind him that Sarah Connor wasn't as helpless as he thought, that she could take care of herself and had been doing it a lot longer than he had. She wanted her baby girl back, and nothing was going to stop her, he could respect that. If anything ever happened to Cameron, he'd stop at nothing, not even a phone call home, to get her back.

Slowly, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers and watched as she closed her eyes with a smile. "Thank you, Cameron."

"For what?" She innocently enquired.

"For being you."

The couple stayed like that for a long time after, comfortable in each other's silence and company, neither feeling the need for more words. Cameron's task was complete, and John's fears had been allayed for a while. Sarah would be fine, he believed it now…he believed in her.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to make a real effort to improve my writing times, hopefully I can stick to that promise.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm getting tired of asking! Tell me the truth!"

Amy squeezed the fistful of hair she had in her grasp tighter as she tried to block out the searing pain travelling through her body. She barely heard Quinn yelling at her, much less saw him mashing the button of his signal generator while he loomed over her. Her HUD and vision flickered, despite the fact she had her eyes screwed tight shut, her entire system was on the verge of collapse, her liquid metal matrix struggling to maintain cohesion under the bombardment.

It was right around that time her 'imagination' kicked in. She didn't consider at the time it may have been some form of defence mechanism she'd developed, after all it was a little difficult to think that clearly when one is being tortured for information by one's captor. Her CPU certainly was advanced enough to pull something like this, it was designed like all other advanced processors with the ability to learn and grow. Not to mention the fact that Amy's mental state was already precarious at best thanks to Skynet's experimentation.

"Tell me the damn truth! Why are you really here?"

In a flash, Amy's mind was transported back, or rather forward, to the future. To a particularly important part of her life, her first briefing on her mission in the past.

_She pushed the heavy door to John and Cameron's quarters open with a grunt, the old metal squeaking and grinding in protest. The doors clearly weren't meant to be opened by someone of her stature, and it was something she was irritated by every day, not to mention everybody else she nagged to do something about it. What made it worse was the guards outside the room not lifting a finger to help her, and she fittingly flipped them the bird as soon as she heard a chuckle._

_I'm really starting to dislike Private Morris…if only he knew how well I know his wife…_

_She entered the darkened room to find John hunched over his desk, papers haphazardly strewn over the surface of it a good indication of what sort of mood he was in. Only a single dim lamp illuminated his features, bags under his eyes, tension in his shoulders visible even from across the room. Amy did note however, one conspicuously missing wife of over ten years, "Where's Cammy?"_

"_Mission." John's abrupt reply gave Amy all the evidence she needed as to why he was in such a bad mood. It was legendary that when one was separated from the other, either by circumstance or argument, John and Cameron were notoriously difficult to deal with. In fact, the entire base seemed to head into a downward spiral such was the bond and love they shared with each other. Apparently it was infectious._

"'_Kay…You wanted to see me?" Amy asked as she shoved the door closed behind her, the metal scraping causing John to at least look up from whatever paper it was he'd been staring at for the last ten minutes._

"_I do. Have a seat." Amy looked around, her body spinning a full 360 at one point to locate a seemingly non-existent chair. Finding none, she settled for hopping up onto the bed, little legs kicking happily off the edge in time with the ticking clock on John's desk._

"_Ugh, Skynet's pushing back on the Western front." Finally sitting up, John slouched back in his chair, his hands trying to knead some tension out of his tired face. Looking over at Amy, he couldn't help but smile a little, she'd picked out a pretty yellow dress to 'wear', a nice contrast to his otherwise miserable day. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked you to come here?"_

"_A little," Amy shrugged nonchalantly, "But I'm thinking you don't wanna just hang out?"_

"_Not exactly."_

_Amy's eyes narrowed slightly as John tried to stretch out his back, the cracking noise rippling its way down his spine the further he leaned back. John looked tired, frustrated, pissed off, and in no mood for any of Skynet's futile counterattacks. It didn't take the entirety of her processing power for her to lean closer and take a wild stab in the dark, "How long has Cammy been gone?"_

"_Eight days." John answered without any hesitation, his head swivelling to face the oddly perceptive machine a moment later. She shrugged, earning herself a smile. "How come you didn't know that? Where have you been for the last week?"_

"_Down in the tunnels, doing a little exploring, played lots of hide and seek with the other kids." Amy smiled as she thought about it. It wasn't odd for her to disappear for large chunks of time to wander off on her own. Apparently she'd missed a lot during the latest adventure away from her family. "But I guess that explains a lot. You look like you haven't slept in oh…about eight days!"_

"_Have I ever told you that you're getting way too good at being a smartass?" John asked, a slight chuckle in his voice. "Anyway, I asked you here because I have a mission for you. If you're willing to accept it, that is."_

Quinn lifted his thumb off the button, giving Amy's writhing body a brief moment's respite. She still clutched at her hair pathetically, just wanting this torture to end.

"Ready to talk yet?" Quinn asked, feeling brave enough to get closer and closer, seeing the machine laying prostrate on the floor. Unable to react to him, he actually prodded her shoulder to get her attention.

Amy glared up at him, using what strength she had left to muster to let him know just how much she despised the man. It seemed to work. The Australian's face twisted into one of disgust as he jammed his thumb back down on the button again as Amy's shrill cry filled the room.

"_So that's it. That's what I'm asking of you. Your cover story is only part of your mission. Take out Kaliba then carry out the duty I've asked of you." John couldn't look up at his little friend, instead choosing to stare down at a crack in the floor in front of him. He knew how important this was, and how risky it was…idiotic in fact._

_Amy's legs had long since stopped kicking off the edge of the bed, and now she too stared down at her feet, caught up in just as much turmoil as John was about this. She understood his reasoning, supported it in fact. But why now? Why after so much good work had been done? But through all that conflict, one thought stood out amongst the others as being the most worrying. "Why isn't Cameron here too while you're telling me this?"_

_John looked over to find Amy staring at him, a little judgementally. He sighed and stood up, only to sit back down beside her on the bed, "I uh…I don't want her to know about this."_

_Amy found herself genuinely surprised. For John to want to keep something from Cameron after so long was almost inconceivable, despite how she could see why he didn't want her to know. The two shared everything, they deeply loved and trusted each other, and quite frankly it made her a little uncomfortable to have to help John hide something. "You're keeping secrets now? Why, after so long?"_

"_Because I'm not sure she'd understand why I'm doing this. I don't want to fight with her." John looked sidelong at his little friend almost pleadingly, not wanting her to push this. For the record, neither had any problem with what he was doing, they just didn't want to have to hide it from Cameron. They both loved her._

"_Just explain it to her. She'll understand." Amy prodded hopefully._

"_Do you remember the last time we had a fight? Not an argument, I mean a real fight?"_

"_Yeah, I do, she almost lost control. I thought she was going to kill you, and she pissed off half the base for two weeks after." Amy thought back to what was possibly one of the most miserable two weeks in memory. John was rocking the couch in his office while making his soldier's lives suck one order at a time. Cameron wasn't much better off, spending all her time either breaking things through irrational anger or crying her eyes out in a fit of emotion she couldn't handle. It was a nightmare, one that she was in no hurry to repeat._

_Denying John's request was never really in any doubt. It just took her a while to make sure this was what he really wanted. She kinda hoped he'd reconsider, but knowing John as well as she did, she knew in no uncertain terms he wasn't about to do that._

"_Alright, I'll do it. When do we perform the procedure?" Amy asked in a small voice._

"_Whenever you're ready. The engineers and doctors have everything set up for you."_

_Amy paused a moment, the thought of being subjected to a procedure in a room remarkably similar to the site of her torture at the hands of Skynet was something she was in no hurry to endure again. "Could you…will you be there?"_

_John smiled kindly and ruffled her hair playfully. "I'll be right beside you holding your hand. Nothing will happen to you, okay?"_

"_Okay, John…I trust you."_

Amy didn't know if the device Quinn was using had an intensity setting, but if it did she was pretty sure he'd just cranked it up a notch or two at her continued stubbornness. In a somewhat perverse way, it pleased her to know she was causing him endless frustration. She only wished it didn't hurt so damn much for the pleasure.

Oddly enough that made her think of Cameron and her…'needs', giving her a moment's humour to enjoy before the pain overrode anything pleasant she could conjure.

Her vision and mind blurring into one, her past and the present flickered together. Quinn stood looming over her one second, and the next she was back in her memories, her brain fighting to protect her and struggling to do so. Eventually though it won out, pushing her thoughts to her past and one of the most pivotal moments in her life.

_Amy entered the room to find only three people waiting for her, John, Cameron and little Abi. She knew her mission in the past was of vital importance, but it was still playing havoc with her emotions when she saw her family lined up waiting to see her off. She knew she'd feel gut wrenching loss as soon as she arrived in the past, but sucked it up and forced a smile._

_Three and a half year old Abigail, who had previously been content to wander around the bright lights of the time displacement room enjoying the adventure of exploration, was somewhat unhappy to be nudged towards Amy by her mother. She remained unhappy until she saw her Aunt Amy waiting for her with a beaming smile._

"_Well, I'm going to miss you!" Amy cooed as she dropped down to her knees to greet the much smaller girl._

"_Where are you going?" She asked, her innocent eyes full of curiosity and wonder._

"_I'm going away." Abi's eyes widened in a mixture of fear and apprehension, but Amy was quick to soothe the little angel, "Don't worry, I'm going to be fine."_

_Looking on the verge of stomping her foot, Abi couldn't understand why her best friend was leaving her, "Whyyyyy?" She whined, clutching at the stuffed bunny in her arms._

"_Because, I have to do a job for your daddy. If I don't do it, daddy will get sad." Amy soothed. It was a partial truth at least._

"_But…I don't want you to go!" This time, Abi actually did stamp her foot, her princess complex kicking in despite her early years. "You can't go!"_

"_I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to." Brow cinching together as tears welled up in the girl's eyes, Amy wasn't above admitting she felt terrible. The poor kid didn't understand why her friend was leaving her, and it broke her heart to know she was the one causing her pain._

"_Here. I have something for you." Clutching her most prized possession in her hands, Amy looked down one final time at Barney Bear. The stuffed animal that had been gifted to her by her first ever friend, Jenny. The girl who had been tragically killed by Skynet forces, the one that taught her the power of her own imagination. She owed her a lot, and that bear was the last remnant of their friendship. She couldn't bring it back with her, so she wanted him to go to a good home._

_Reluctantly handing the bear off to her friend, Amy smiled when Abi took it gratefully, smiling down at its little face. "He belonged to someone very special to me. Take good care of him, okay?"_

_Abi nodded slowly, carefully running her little fingers over the bear's ears, as if understanding just how much it meant. Reaching out, Amy pulled the girl into a hug, one which she felt returned by tiny arms clutching onto her sides almost desperately. "I'll see you around, kiddo."_

_She didn't really understand, she didn't really know what was going on, but tears flowed freely in Abi's little eyes as she was detached from her best friend by her mother before being promptly ushered towards her waiting dad. Cameron crouched down in front of Amy and quickly pulled her into a hug, pouring more affection into it than Amy had ever known from the usually reserved cyborg._

"_Stay safe, Amy. Please, be patient with my younger self when you get back. She's…confused." Amy pulled back a little to look at the person she'd come to think of as her big sister. Despite a couple of spats down the years, the two of them were as close as any two friends could be, and Amy knew it must have been killing the cyborg to see her go. She didn't form attachments easily, but when she did, she really did. She dread to think what might happen to her if she ever lost someone she really cared about._

"_I will, Cameron. I'll make sure to keep her on the right path." She pulled back and winked at her friend who was clearly trying to suppress tears herself._

_With a sniffle, Cameron reached out and brushed Amy's cheek affectionately before standing and returning to her husband, taking Abi out of his arms. She watched him walk over to Amy, crouch down and pull her into a hug just like she'd done a moment ago._

_The hug lasted for a long time with no words exchanged between the two, much longer than Cameron expected. John was too strong to show much emotion these days, but evidently he cared for Amy way more than she was aware of._

_When the hug did finally break up, John waited a long moment before smiling and ruffling Amy's hair in just the way she hated, earning him a half hearted eye roll. Eventually though, the time for goodbye's came to an end. Amy made her way to the displacement pad in the centre of the room and crouched down in preparation. She looked up to see Abi fussing in her mother's arm and sucking her thumb for comfort, the two stuffed animals clutched in her arm._

_She watched Cameron discreetly slip her hand into her husband's, clearly looking for support. John gave her hand a squeeze in reply just as Amy looked up at him. He smiled, then winked at her, about as clear, albeit hidden sign of encouragement as she was ever going to get._

_Smiling at her family, Amy waved back at all of them. She saw John nod towards the window at the back of the room, and suddenly her world was enveloped in electrical discharges and a bubble of white light._

Clutching her head in crippling agony, Amy writhed on the floor, her memories of the bright white of the time bubble mingling with the blinding pain of her reality. She couldn't take much more of this, her liquid metal matrix couldn't take much more of this. She had to do something, had to stop it somehow.

Pain receptors in her body lit up like they never had before, her liquid metal structure coming apart at the seams. Amy had rarely known fear, being impervious to most forms of attack would do that to a person. But now she knew true fear. If she didn't do something to stop this torture, she wasn't going to last much longer. Only the truth would satisfy this man, so that's what she gave him, screaming as loud as she could, "Sarah! It's all about Sarah!"

"Sarah?" Quinn asked, finally deactivating the signal generators in the room, his curiosity piqued. "Sarah Connor? What does she have to do with anything?"

Still struggling with the effects of her torture, Amy took several moments, her systems trying to right themselves, everything affected from her balance, her vision to even her motor skills, her body still spasming randomly. "She, she's why I'm here. She's my…mission."

"Your mission? What mission?" Crouching down beside the machine, confident he would be safe, Quinn nudged the girl to get her attention, practically growling. "Are you here to keep her safe? To give her intel? Tell me!"

Amy shook her head, struggling to sit up, her body leaning heavily against the crate behind her, "No…something else."

* * *

><p>One thing was for certain, despite Sarah's dislike of the entity known as Catherine Weaver, she wasn't about to turn down good advice. After being dispatched from Zeira Corp without so much as a lead to follow up on, Sarah had taken the machine's advice and travelled back to the scene of the crime, namely Aegis Enterprises' main office building. This was where that damn fun day had taken place. This was where Amy was taken from her.<p>

Fortunately enough it had a nice and secluded, dark alley opposite the building. Perfect for Sarah to conduct her covert surveillance and investigation. She vaguely wondered just how many darkened alleys she'd been in down the years, tracking one target or another. She got the feeling it was significantly more than most women her age, that was for sure.

But this one was perfect. Hell, there was even a diner around the corner that sold donuts and coffee, right next door to a Chinese restaurant. It was like the building was begging to be staked out. Unfortunately thought for Sarah, she hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and the driver's seat of the Jeep was incredibly comfortable, especially at three in the morning when activity had been at an absolute zero for the past, oh…six hours.

Consequently, she woke with a start just after five AM, the blare of a reversing garbage truck stirring her from her relatively peaceful albeit short slumber. Mentally kicking herself for sleeping so long, she sat up in her seat to survey the building in front of her. Just as she thought, not a single thing had changed, well, aside from the early morning sun.

Stretching her aching body out as much as she could, she opened the door and slid out of the Jeep, raising her arms above her head to complete the full body stretch. Satisfied she was awake properly, she ducked back into the Jeep and pulled her phone out off the dash. The thing hadn't been turned on in days, and she deemed right then as good a time as any to re-connect with the world, and most importantly her family.

_Wow, when did I start considering Cameron and Derek my family?_

Shaking her head, she powered on her phone, the BlackBerry symbol glaring at her for a moment before disappearing and giving way to the familiar home screen. As she'd expected, the voicemails and text messages promptly started flooding her inbox. She wasn't this popular when she was actually popular, eighteen voice messages and thirteen texts.

She'd listen to the voicemails later, most of them were probably from John anyway. Scrolling through her texts, she noticed a definite trend in the messages from him, each one more pleading and desperate than the next. She could tell he was trying to control himself, the fact he'd only sent eleven was a pretty good indicator of that. There was one message from Derek that simply read:

'_What the hell are you doing? Where the hell are you? And what the fuck are you thinking?'_

Typical Derek. Even when he's trying to be caring he comes off as aggressive. Just what The Model™ saw in him she'd never know. There was one oddity in amongst John's messages though that caught her eye. It was one from Cameron.

Sarah's curiosity piqued, she opened the message, and the contents surprisingly brought a warm smile to her face.

'_Please come home, Sarah. John is worried about you.'_

Short, simple, and to the point, but it reminded Sarah just how much the cyborg cared for her son. Her absence was getting him worked up, so Cameron sought to alleviate that stress. Pretty simple, but Sarah appreciated it nonetheless.

As she prepared to toss her phone back onto the dash, she paused. A smile growing on her face as she looked over the background image of her phone. It was a shot of her and Amy, John had took it one day when she wasn't paying attention and set it as her background. She didn't have the technical knowhow to change it, so there it remained.

The shot pretty much summed up Sarah's feelings about Amy. She sat in her lap, giggling away as the woman she thought of as her mother said something to make her laugh, her arm wrapped securely around the little girl's waist. She knew it wasn't right, tried to deny it, but her true feelings shone through in the moment that John had chosen to capture.

Life sure had a way of surprising you…and biting you in the ass. The picture was a stark reminder of what she was missing, and more pointedly what she still had.

Keying in John's number without a second thought, Sarah waited for it to dial. She had no idea what she was going to say, she just wanted to talk to her son. The phone was answered just barely as the first ring finished. As she expected, it was Cameron that answered in a quiet voice, "Hello Sarah."

Sighing, Sarah pulled the phone from her ear, but only to punch in her code. She heard Cameron's a moment later, confirming her identity. "Where's John?"

She could almost see the cyborg's nose crinkling when she got right down to business. For some reason, Cameron expected politeness to be reciprocated, and it irked her when it wasn't. For an advanced cybernetic intelligence, she sure was easy to annoy, much to Sarah's eternal delight, "John is here. He's currently asleep…and drooling on me."

Sarah smiled at the vision of her son currently dribbling on his girlfriend's chest…she only hoped they were clothed. Vision ruined. "Is he now? Can I speak to him…please?"

Silence came from the other end for a moment, Cameron obviously considering the request. She was protective of John to ridiculous lengths, including making sure he got a suitable amount of sleep per night. Usually Sarah would've just told her to put her son on, but she wanted to honour their relationship. Cameron was the gatekeeper at the moment, and she had to ask, not take.

A second later she heard a faint voice and then some shuffling. She faintly heard John mumbling something incoherent, something along the lines of wanting Cameron to be more gentle. Dismissing it as sleep induced nonsense from her son, Sarah listened some more, John making more sense as he slowly woke up.

"Mom?" John's eager sounding voice came through a moment later, like music to her ears.

"Hey John." Smiling at the sound of his voice, Sarah slumped against the side of the Jeep. "How are things?"

"How are things?" To Sarah's surprise, John sounded more pissed than she'd been expecting, his voice actually stuttering before he continued, "You've been gone for days and you're asking me how are things? Where are you?"

"I'm safe. That's all you need to worry about." Waiting for a reply, Sarah could almost hear John's teeth grinding. For once she was actually glad Cameron was there with him. She was no doubt doing her level best to keep him calm.

"And Amy?" John ground out, his lips forming into a tight smile as Cameron drifted her fingers over his cheek lovingly. He appreciated her efforts, but that didn't mean he wasn't still pissed with his mother, despite how happy he was to hear her voice again.

"Nothing yet." Sarah fell silent for a moment, unable to get that image out of her head, or the memory. Amy squirming in her lap as she ran her fingers through one of her pigtails…_Dammit, stop it Sarah!_

"That sucks." John commented dryly. He missed Amy too of course, but he missed his mother more. "Why don't you come home and we can work out a new plan for finding her?"

"No." Sarah shook her head, despite knowing John couldn't see it, "Not yet. I still have to…just, not yet John, okay?"

There were a few moments silence from the other end, John no doubt mulling it over. She didn't know it, but his head flopped down onto Cameron's chest, his finger slowly tracing around her exposed belly button.

"There's nothing I can say to convince you, is there?"

"Not really." Despite everything, Sarah smiled. She knew her sone better than anyone, well, his girlfriend possibly excluded in that. But she knew that when he thought about something, he was the most logical and careful individual around.

"Alright, mom, I understand." There was another period of silence, Cameron's fingers coming to rest on his scalp, gently massaging the tension away out of his voice, "Listen, don't do anything stupid. Come home when you're ready and we'll be waiting for you."

"Alright John. I…" With a frown, Sarah shook her head, steeling herself. It was the only way to get through this, be strong, don't let any weakness show, get Amy back, get home and then let herself play happy families. "Sit tight, make sure the model doesn't do anything dumb…and John?"

"Yeah mom?" John asked, grinning as he dropped a kiss on Cameron's belly.

"Take care of yourself…" She couldn't help but smirk as she said this, the soft squelching sound coming down the line clear as day, "And if you can manage to peel yourself off of Cameron, go get a shower, breakfast, and do your workout. That's an order, John."

Chuckling, John actually did as instructed, rolling off his girlfriend, Cameron propping herself up on her side to watch him, "Yes, mom. I'll even brush my teeth and clean behind my ears."

"Good boy." Smiling, Sarah hung up the phone, in a much better mood now that she'd heard her son's voice. As she pushed herself up off the side of the Jeep, a loss of balance had her thudding back against it, her head suddenly swimming, her stomach lurching in an all too familiar way.

Lifting a hand to her forehead, she took a moment to steady herself, forcing it down deep, fighting on through the pain. She was a warrior, able to up against not one but two Terminators and survive. She'd be damned if a little sickness was going to get the best of her. So she did what she always did, sucked up the pain and the discomfort and forced herself to get on with what had to be done.

She pushed herself to standing off the side of the car, swaying only a fraction before closing her eyes and taking in a deep, calming breath. Satisfied the worst of it had passed, she got back in the Jeep ready to move on. She was getting no change out of watching Aegis, time for a switch in strategy.

She had to get her Amy back…she just had to.

* * *

><p>She poked her head around the corner of the doorframe, not even inch by inch, but millimetre by millimetre. No sooner had her beautiful eyes crept around the timber frame, she ducked back, her heart racing in her chest. Derek, despite his obvious love and caring for the woman, couldn't suppress a smirk. He knew how terrified she was, and quite frankly, that was understandable, so he felt like an ass for finding it funny the way she wouldn't even head downstairs without him there beside her.<p>

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked calmly, taking gentle hold of her arm.

"She's in there!" Jessica replied in a mixture of a hiss and a whisper, as if it should have been plainly obvious what was wrong.

"So?" He shrugged, whispering also. He didn't know why, after all, the machine could hear everything they were saying anyway, it just felt like something he should do.

"So? What do you mean, so?" Eyes widening, Jessica shook her head, a little disbelieving. What on Earth she saw in this man she'd never know, "I can't go in there! She's….she's in there, Derek!"

"So?" He shook his head, but not in frustration, nor sympathy. More like… hopeful thinking. "You'll have to do this eventually, babe. She's not going to hurt you, okay?"

Jessica stayed silent for a moment, eyeing her boyfriend like she wanted to do some damage to his face, some damage probably involving her fist. Shaking her head, she slowly leaned back towards the entrance to the kitchen, again peeking her eyes out around the corner for a brief moment before pulling back just as quick.

She sucked in a deep breath before letting it out again, her fringe lifting up, caught in the sudden rush of air. She looked to her left again, right at Derek who smiled encouragingly. She gave him a pleading, puppy dog look that usually worked miracles on him. But today he wasn't budging.

"I'll be right here, okay?" He smiled, but stopped short of nudging her towards the kitchen, wanting her to do this in her own time. "I love you. You'll be fine."

Jessica forced a little half smile before nervously chewing her lip and turning away. She didn't see it, but Derek smiled a very proud smile at her back as he watched her poke her head out for longer than a second this time. He watched her take a moment to collect herself, take a deep breath, gather her courage, before stepping over the threshold of the kitchen.

She didn't stray too far though, choosing instead to hover in the doorway, nervously shuffling from one foot to the other. Cameron didn't look up. Little did Jessica know, but the cyborg was aware of her presence, and had been since she'd left the sanctuary of Derek's room and ventured downstairs. She didn't know that a real sense of excitement and anticipation had been building in her chip, every passing second like a form of torture. But she wouldn't push it, she wouldn't make any sudden moves at all, not if it meant potentially getting her best friend back.

While she was contemplating clearing her throat, Jessica took a moment to have a quick look around. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for Cameron herself. The usually badass cyborg looked anything but, wearing a knee length white dress with red detailing, a departure from the jeans that she'd always just happened to be wearing whenever the two of them were together.

Her hair was pinned up into a loose ponytail, oddly enough tied with a red ribbon. Cameron was in a strange mood that day, feeling oddly sentimental about Amy after John's phone call with his mother. Amy had shown her how to tie her hair up that way, so she felt it was a fitting thing to do. Her feet were bare and her legs crossed demurely under the kitchen table. All in all, she looked like a sweet, innocent young girl. All it did was remind Jessica just how hard she'd fell for the ruse, she truly believed once upon a time that Cameron was just a sweet young thing confused about life and love, looking for a friend to help her out.

Boy, was she wrong.

Still though, she'd promised Derek that she would at least make an effort to get over her initial reaction whenever she thought of, or saw Cameron. Outright panic and fear. So she sucked it up, took a deep breath, lifted her chin and cleared her throat. It had the desired effect as Cameron looked up from whatever she was working on, her hand pausing over the paper beneath it. "Hello, Jessica."

Despite the fact she'd been expecting that, it still caught her off guard a little, "Um, yeah, uh, hi…Cameron."

Cameron formed one of her patented half smiles and tilted her head just a fraction while looking the young woman over. It was a quick glance, but she had no idea how much it unnerved Jessica. She decided on going for the uncharacteristic patient, faux-ignorant approach she'd recently been learning to incorporate into her personality matrix. Not her usual style, admittedly. She favoured a somewhat…stronger approach, but John had assured her it wasn't always the best method. "John isn't here. I'm assuming you're looking for him?"

Cameron's lilting voice almost had Jessica relaxing, right up until she blinked a couple of times and shook her head to clear it. "Um, no, I was just uh…Is it okay if I get something to drink?"

Cameron noticed Jessica's tone was clipped, polite, but not friendly. It had a shake to it that most humans would never detect with their relatively poor auditory systems. But unfortunately she was cursed with perfect audio receptors, and the realisation hurt her in ways she wasn't expecting it to. Despite a momentary twitch of her left hand and a certain impulse that was becoming altogether too familiar, she smiled and nodded, not letting her voice betray her inner turmoil, "Of course. There is chilled water or juice in the refrigerator. Or something stronger in the cupboard under the sink if you prefer."

Already taking a step towards the fridge, Jessica paused and quirked a brow at that last part. How did…never mind, she'd had enough alcohol lately to last a lifetime. "Thanks…"

Keeping her eyes glued on the cyborg, she watched Cameron smile and return to her work, the pen moving over the paper again with inhuman speed and precision. Letting out a shudder, she skirted around the area of the kitchen table as much as she could until she reached the fridge. Once there, she was forced to tear her gaze away to grab a bottle of water from the door. Once she had it, she immediately went back to keeping a watchful eye on the girl at the table, closing the fridge door harder than she intended.

Cameron didn't flinch, she merely tilted her head the opposite way and turned the paper slightly.

As much as she knew she should have just been getting the hell out of there, mission accomplished, curiosity started to get the better of Jessica, and she found herself craning her neck to get a better look at what it was Cameron was drawing. Next thing she knew she'd drifted closer until she was looking right over her shoulder, and what she saw both confused and intrigued her, "Is that…is that um…you?"

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Cameron's lips as she looked up and away from her drawing, sitting up slightly to give Jessica a better view. "Yes, it is me. My endoskeletal structure, to be precise."

As she examined the image, perfectly drawn with a precision only CAD software could match, she couldn't help but be drawn in by the lines of the body. So sleek, dangerous, and yet somehow…feminine, if that was even possible. "So, so that's what you look like…underneath?"

"Yes." Chancing a glance up at her friend, Cameron moved the paper closer to the woman. So far she didn't seem repulsed, curious if anything. "My construction is not that different to yours, just, different materials. Would you like me to explain anything to you?"

"Um, no thanks…" Leaning down, she examined the drawing closer, almost forgetting about the crippling fear of the machine sitting next to her, "Why are you drawing yourself?"

"It's a gift for John." With that, Cameron turned the paper back towards herself and started labelling certain objects, her perfectly neat handwriting placed precisely next to critical systems.

"A, a gift?" With a shake of her head, Jessica tore her eyes away from the paper and towards the back of Cameron's head, the impulse to help her friend out like she'd always done kicking in before she had a chance to stop it, "Why not just get him an Xbox game or something? Seems easier."

Cameron smiled while she carried on with her work. "Not that kind of gift. John has expressed a desire to learn and to grow into the role he will one day assume. This means he needs any knowledge that is available to him about his…enemy."

Her pen stopped, and she put it down a moment later as she stared at her own chassis design on the page in front of her. "One day, John will pass on the information he knows about machines to others. It's how he rises through the ranks to become leader. He shows the human race how to fight back, he teaches them how to win. My design is close to most Terminator units, there are many similarities."

"So, the important parts of you are the same on other…models?" Jessica asked, again on autopilot.

"Yes." Cameron turned slightly in her seat, making Jessica jump just a little. It wasn't as much as she'd been expecting though, progress at least, "Our power cells are located here."

She pointed to her chest, and also to the label on her diagram. Then she raised both her fingers to the top of her head, physically and on the schematic, "Our chips…brains, are located here." She tapped her skull for emphasis, right over her chip port.

Jessica leaned forward, as if expecting to actually see something. She only found Cameron's perfect hair, nothing more. "I um…" She glanced back at the doorway where she knew Derek was waiting for her. She couldn't see him, but just knowing that he was there gave her strength and courage, "Derek says that in the future it'll help me if I know this stuff. Would you…"

She paused. She didn't want to do this, but knew she had to, if not for her then for Derek. She had promised after all, "Would you be able to teach me more about you? About others some time?"

Apparently this was what humans often referred to as an 'olive branch', although that was an expression Cameron never truly understood…and she didn't like olives either. Fighting off every impulse in her system to snatch the branch being offered, she merely nodded once and smiled, "Of course. When you have time, come and see me and we can get started."

"Oh, thanks. I'll uh…I'll see you later." Turning around and heading out of the room, Jessica had to shake her head to remind herself just what the hell she'd done. She had an actual pleasant conversation with Cameron, without freaking out! Maybe Derek and John were right. Although she had a feeling it would be a while before she was truly comfortable around her again.

As she rounded the corner, she found Derek smiling a wide, proud smile at her and couldn't help but smile back, still clutching her water in her hands.


End file.
